77 10 9812 https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/f5b090797e1ce7d93ecb0a8cbed24d10.pdf 31da3ceb8454026b76bfe36408375afe PDF Text Text f JI -(,0 -t ft -7! 7!5J ■ dir'tJ', bt•J U SONNET 11. 1-2 As fast . .’. thou departesP asfast you decline (in old age) .so fast shall you grow, in the form of your child, toward the ^eak (of youthful beauty) from which you are declining. 5 which . . . « bestow’st which while you are young you put out to gain interest. f convertest turn away. y Herein by this course of action, 7 the times the succeeding generations of men. 9 store breeding, replenishment. TO barrenly without children. ii Look whom whomever (a common ( , Elizabethan idiom). Z2 bounteous gift (a) generous gift (b) gift of bounty, of ability to procreate, in bounty by being prolific. ij seal engraved stamp used to make impressions in wax. iq copy original, archetype, from which copies are made (as in “printer’s copy”). 7 ^7) £ SONNET 12. I count the clock count the hours as they are struck by the clock, tells (a) reveals (b) counts. 2 brave magnificent, radiant. 5 past prime faded. sable black, all malone; q: “or.” 6 erst formerly. 7 summer’s green i.e. the grain, which is conceived of as bom on the harvest carts in bound-up sheaves like dead men being; carried to their graves. 8 bristly beard This may suggest barley, p question make con sider, speculate about. 10 the wastes of time those things which time destroys. ii themselves forsake cease to be what they formerly were, deteriorate with time. 12 others other “sweets and beauties.” ij Time’s scythe The conventional symbol of Time w'ith his scythe supports and echoes the reaping image of lines 7-8. iq breed children, brave defy. from that which thou depart^ ;sh blood whichyyoun^y thou Thou mayst call thine when thou ^rom outh convertest. ILX Herein lives wisdom, beauty, and increase; Without this,^lly, age, and cold decay.,. > all were minded so, the times shoult^ease, direest^ore year would make the world ' YT .Pt those whom Nature hath not made foiystore^ arsh, featureless, and rude^barrenlv^p££|^S^^ 00k whom she best endow’d she gave jthe thoreyj Ch 2 Win3rbp«ofSbus gift thoujjKjiildst in bounty ch^iSlsy^ > ■ She dary^thee for bergetil Jand meant thereby. ” Thou shmHdst|pi^t let that^^ di^ hen lllo(c6unjtKe clgck that, tells th^im^ ’ And see the byave i^tiy^sunk in hid^ou^ighl/ l • When 1 behold the violet past prime And sabl& curls all .silver’d o’er with white, " ' ’ '^*^5 When lofty trees I see barren of leaves, 73 f 5f 5, , did canoT^ the hero.—.o p, TTgii-ded iin in sheaves'T~iir»«i)d?^~^*’**^ - ''4; hen of thy beauty do , estion __make That tljQli among the^asterofftiS^must go, Since pwee^ and beautiesT <—And pie ^fast as they see . , And notfiing^ainst; ’Time^s scythe can make(^feiy; ‘ Q Save breed, io brave him whenj^t^kes thee hence. 13 IO � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Margaret Demorest Annotations on Shakespeare's Sonnets Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <div class="element-text five columns omega"> <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/</a> </div> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1968 Description An account of the resource Scans of a copy of Shakespeare's sonnets containing former Casper College English instructor Margaret Demorest's annotations. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Margaret Demorest, William Shakespeare Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Margaret Demorest Papers, CCA 10.2011.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2011.01_Demorest_Sonnets Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Written Annotations Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Margaret Demorest Sonnet Annotations: Sonnets 11 and 12 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1968 Subject The topic of the resource Shakespeare, William, -- 1564-1616 -- Sonnets; Sonnets, English -- History and criticism Description An account of the resource The following transcription of Demorest's annotations was selected and transcribed by Casper College Student and Archives staff member Grace MacPherson in January of 2024. Sonnet 11 General Notes: (11) (a) Prince of Wales [illegible] lives 7 wks Tho. More was estate of Nalsey[?] Sir Thomas Egerton is keeper of the gov. seal of Eng. Line 7 Cease: Cecil? Line 13 Seal: of state (authorizes) written records Sonnet 12 Overall Notes ’12 Naval incident – loss by fire of ships that were fighting – caused Henry to improve gun positions ’52 Somerset executed by Northumberland ’12 Birth of James V? Line 1 Count: (pun) Compton courted/married gentlew. Anne Line 3 Violet past prime: Symbol of faithfulness Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Demorest, Margaret; Shakespeare, William Language A language of the resource ENG, LAT Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Margaret Demorest Papers, CCA 10.2011.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2011.01_Demorest_Sonnets_11_12 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/05b2f9901d31163c5c6c0c6a25e92e14.jpg 4ab5c6fbaa546c5a73a38c671a437049 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Margaret Demorest Annotations on Shakespeare's Sonnets Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <div class="element-text five columns omega"> <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/</a> </div> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1968 Description An account of the resource Scans of a copy of Shakespeare's sonnets containing former Casper College English instructor Margaret Demorest's annotations. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Margaret Demorest, William Shakespeare Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Margaret Demorest Papers, CCA 10.2011.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2011.01_Demorest_Sonnets Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Written Annotations Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Margaret Demorest Sonnet Annotations: Sonnets 9 and 10 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1968 Subject The topic of the resource Shakespeare, William, -- 1564-1616 -- Sonnets; Sonnets, English -- History and criticism Description An account of the resource The following transcription of Demorest's annotations was selected and transcribed by Casper College Student and Archives staff member Grace MacPherson in January of 2024. Sonnet 9 Overall Notes: 9 = Called Mars – “tends toward the end, that is 10.” (9) Henry dies [,] Henry VIII succeeds him 1509 – Henry VII dies – Henry VIII on throne Deathbed wish = m. of #8 + Cath (widow) Line 4 Wail: Wales? (Prince?) Sonnet 10 Overall Notes: 1510. Scandal of court: Catherine pregnant. Henry unfaithful: Anne [illegible] Geo. Hastings Honeymoon over 10 = Above all other numbers[.] Called Janus Line 1 Any: Annie = cares for her Line 6 Conspire: Cath. alone insisted on staying in Engl. Line 10 Gentle love: love of gentlewoman, not queen Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Demorest, Margaret; Shakespeare, William Language A language of the resource ENG, LAT Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Margaret Demorest Papers, CCA 10.2011.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2011.01_Demorest_Sonnets_09_10jpg Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/5f372e3e841ef447acc06c2fd8a2efed.pdf b601e6ab34ec579a1eac1c292f075d8f PDF Text Text At **41 c *. I c the Ori^t when the gracious light Cm'c S ' Eitts up his burning head, each underfey^*^ Doth homage to his new-appearing sight, Serving”with looks his sacred majesty; And having climb’d the steep-np heavenly hill. Resembling strong youth in his middle age, Yet mortal looks adore his beauty still, *■tending on his goldfen pilgrimage; • It when from highmost pitch, with weary car, se speechless song, being many, seeming one ike feeb le age he reeleth from the day, gs this to thee: “Thou single wilt^irove'^none 0. “1Tk n4 eyes yfore duteous) now converted are [Frlrnnis low tract and look another way^ Fsk thou, thyself outgoing in thv\noorfn "IU^oo^^’tlond^st uiflesspiouget a s to the “eye” of heaven, as the sun was conventionally called). 5 steep-up high and precipitous. 9 highmost pitch greatest height, i.e. noon. “Pitch” is a term from falconry indicating the greatest height to which a falcon may soar, car the chariot of the sun god. // fore before (an old ' '0 ! VI ' *- — SONNET 8. The basic metaphor of the sonnet is drawn from lute play- , ing and rests on the fact that the strings of the lute were tuned in pairs,. except for the highest string, which was single. 1 Music to hear you, whose voice is music for me to hear, sadly soberly, without joy, Why Im/st , thine annoy why do you either love that (music) to which you listen without joy, or tolerate at all that (music) which annoys you? If you listen to music “sadly” one of these possibilities must be true. 6 By unions married united to one another in polyphonic combinations. 7-S who confounds . . . shouldst bear who destroy by singing alone the harmony of the concert (marriage) in which you should be singing only parts. The musical “parts” are the roles in the family, or “concert” of „ 'husband and father. 10 Strikes . . . ordering To pluck one of the f ' iX ^'double strings of the lute causes the other string to vibrate as well. This called “sympathetic vibration.” 14 prove none be rio person. I % *4 ^MdsicTo hearuidiy hear’st tlmu music sadly?_^ s^eetsAvitlfsweetj war not,jo_J delights {^^3ov’st thou that which thou receiv’st not gladly. Or else receiv’st with pleasure thine annoy? Tk* 7—^ If the true concord of well-tuned sounds, "Sy untoiRiharxi^^^o offend thine ear, t They do bOT^^eetl^iide thee, who confounds In singleness the parts t ou shouldst bear. Marjk^ow one strin sweet hhsband to another, ' Strikes each in each by mutual ordering; R^embling sire and child and happy mother, ''■JVh^, all in one, one pleasing note do sing; i e >’ t e *" � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Margaret Demorest Annotations on Shakespeare's Sonnets Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <div class="element-text five columns omega"> <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/</a> </div> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1968 Description An account of the resource Scans of a copy of Shakespeare's sonnets containing former Casper College English instructor Margaret Demorest's annotations. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Margaret Demorest, William Shakespeare Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Margaret Demorest Papers, CCA 10.2011.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2011.01_Demorest_Sonnets Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Written Annotations Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Margaret Demorest Sonnet Annotations: Sonnets 7 and 8 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1968 Subject The topic of the resource Shakespeare, William, -- 1564-1616 -- Sonnets; Sonnets, English -- History and criticism Description An account of the resource The following transcription of Demorest's annotations was selected and transcribed by Casper College Student and Archives staff member Grace MacPherson in January of 2024. Sonnet 7 Overall Notes: Cecil called “victrix orientis” [Latin: victrix is the feminine form of the word for champion or victor; orientis means "of the east"] ’07 Anne C.[?] born[.] Her father is Earl of Wiltshire 7 – Number 7 is Virgin, sign of Minerva + Pallas, the moon goddess Line 1: Lo: Marlowe symbol Line 2 Eye: eyes = Leicester Sonnet 8 Overall Notes: ’08 Mary Tudor m. (by proxy) to Archduke Charles Sidney – theorist on “music” 8 = Vulean[?] – Symbol of muse of spheres Will Somers was court fool and confidante of Henry VIII – supposedly had[?] joined court 1525 – James Hil[?] was chief singer Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Demorest, Margaret; Shakespeare, William Language A language of the resource ENG, LAT Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Margaret Demorest Papers, CCA 10.2011.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2011.01_Demorest_Sonnets_07_08 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/7f56202adb3cde98016724002bd318ed.pdf 50033fda68edbb794b02952bd2d83349 PDF Text Text Ttrfunit, SONNET 5. I frame shape, create, 2 The lovely . . doth dwell the lovely sight upon which all eyes _ . , gaze. 4 And that , . doth excel and make that unbeautiful which in beauty does excel. 6 confounds destroys. him i.e. summer. 5 o’ersnow’d covered with snow, 9 summer’s distillahon perfume made from the flowers of summer. IO pent locked. // Beauty s . . . bereft we would be deprived of the perfume along with the flowers from which it was made — i.e. the beauty of your unborn child as well as your beauty. i^ Leese lose, their show their mere external ap pearance of physical form, their substance their true spiritual essence. ose hours that with gentle work did frame^t)^ e lovely gaze where every eye doth dwell, o the Will play thj;. dotn exfcel And that"unSai which 5 ime Stacis teummer or nevCT^re ,_ ____ on; e ’ o hideou.Cwinter’jmd, confounds him there, check’d frost.ind lusty leaves quite! tv o’ersnow’dand bareness everywhere. n, were notisnimer’s dw^ll^ion left((e liquid prisoner pent in/wJHs qf .gl^, auty^s gflect with beajzty we^ bereft^ o reme rance wTOt it w'SiSki flow^ though~t^ey with meet, /'stilljlives< >■ eese biM their Vhow — thei sweet. /'’t I A/ , ,^hen let notjwfiter’s^r^ed Jian deface 5’ln thee thy) summer ere thou be pistil some placeiC*) 'Make sweet some vial; treasure t With beauty’s treasure ere it be_^ 'That usf is not forbidden usury Which happies those that pay tjre T^iat’s for thyself to breed a ther Or\tenltimes happier, beit/^n forpne. \ mes thyself were ppjer than thou'ar^ of thine ten tiptfes jrefigur’d thee. what could detfth do if thou shouldst depart, Living thee livi in posterity? S' Be not self Fd, for thou art much To be death’s conquest and make w SONNET 6. 1 ragged rough. 2 distill’d The im sonnet is carried on. To be “distilled” is to be “made into perfume” — to have one’s true essence carried on in the form of a child. j some vial the child into whom his essence will be distilled (not the mother), treasure enrich. 5 That use that kind of investment (of your beauty) at interest. '* 6 happies makes happy. 7 to breed to give birth to. The verb “to breed” ' was often used to apply to the increase of capital by interest. 8 ten for one Ten percent was the maximum amount of interest permitted by a statute of 1571, which revived an earlier statute of Henry VIII permitting the lending of mtmey at interest. 10 refigur’d thee represented thee anew 4^^ |O jt /• •X >) "f 1/ ' z \ » 1 ' -Ws i*. ' 5 ' . •* � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Margaret Demorest Annotations on Shakespeare's Sonnets Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <div class="element-text five columns omega"> <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/</a> </div> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1968 Description An account of the resource Scans of a copy of Shakespeare's sonnets containing former Casper College English instructor Margaret Demorest's annotations. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Margaret Demorest, William Shakespeare Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Margaret Demorest Papers, CCA 10.2011.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2011.01_Demorest_Sonnets Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Written Annotations Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Margaret Demorest Sonnet Annotations: Sonnets 5 and 6 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1968 Subject The topic of the resource Shakespeare, William, -- 1564-1616 -- Sonnets; Sonnets, English -- History and criticism Description An account of the resource The following transcription of Demorest's annotations was selected and transcribed by Casper College Student and Archives staff member Grace MacPherson in January of 2024. Sonnet 5 Overall Notes: ’05 – Isabella dies “till” = Sp. Castille The frost – lease – show? E’s speech 1585 q. Eccl.: They that fear the frost the snow will fall on them. ’06 – Joann[a] + Philip removed[?] as prisoners after shipdown to England[?] – Bacon Treaty of Windsor Summer must be fair queen Sonnet 6 Overall Notes: 6 – Perfect number assigned to Venus ’06 – Death of Philip after pact with Ferdinand. Henry considers Joanna as wife. Line 1 Ragged: Henry Line 2: Distill’d: Joanna Line 4: Self-kill’d: Philip Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Demorest, Margaret; Shakespeare, William Language A language of the resource ENG, LAT Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Margaret Demorest Papers, CCA 10.2011.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2011.01_Demorest_Sonnets_05_06 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/035b55c184c8c849a1efdc7fc5abe4ec.pdf 2bc0ce6962fde28016407a1f1ded7f31 PDF Text Text 3 •7 1^’ ■ 7-77-.yc-z 0 - -O' V tf fresh repair youthffel condition, beguile cneat. tin(W«s SONNET fail to bless (some woman with motherhood). 5 unear’d untilled. 6 husbandry cultivation of land, farming (with a pun on “husband”.), I fond foolish, tomb monument. 8 Of his . . . posterity to eliminate the possibility of descendants because of his own self-love. p1 thy ’ mother’s glass hnrk TPralls the reflection of your mother’s beauty. 10 Calls back recalls, prime ' springtime, youth. // windows i.e. children, through whom in your old age you will be able to see your own youth, 12 Despite in spite, golden time youth. 75 But if . . . not to be but if you live so as not to be remembered (by children). I f tell the face thou’dviewest Lookan th ;lass/an For where4s)she so d(fair.-whose unear wombh?e- "I NovUfslheTime that ------face should form anothe Whosexesh repair if ino^thou not rene hou doT^begj^e the^orld, unbl^^oiii^^^f^ n tomb I VA .*’• Of KisAel ,Then how, whe^ What accffpti\bl Thy UL Which, Av’"io e- iCaflls back t 3-' 5 indows of^hp^ie age shalt(gee,J h 4^n time." Ncw< 1 yvrinkles,it ive remem’bred ilot to be, ies with thee. jUO . c> SONNET 4. 2 thy beauty's legacy the Beauty which‘you have inherited and should bequeath. 4 frank generous, are free who are generous. 5 niggard miser. 6 largess generosity. 7 use invest at interest. 8 live (a) earn a living (b) continue to live in the memories of children. 10 de. ceive cheat. /a audit account. lives ... to be would live (in the^vsTt • I form of a child) to be your executor. ,, i loveline hy\jost . hou spend If \l^ c , K 5 fA re- Nature’s bej^uest thing, but dotMend, And, bMng jrankZshe lench to tihose areffreeY~ enTI^^uteo niggarjZjKthy dost thou ab^seje / The bouniei;;ys;i^ <'Profitiess/u^e^^J So gfeaTa sum pf sums, yet can For, having traffic with thyself ^one, Thou of thyself thy sweet self\dost decgive. calls th tob^gonfej It nst thoii 1 ea*uEy7nust be/fomb’djVith h’ execu 5 , j ' ’ � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Margaret Demorest Annotations on Shakespeare's Sonnets Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <div class="element-text five columns omega"> <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/</a> </div> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1968 Description An account of the resource Scans of a copy of Shakespeare's sonnets containing former Casper College English instructor Margaret Demorest's annotations. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Margaret Demorest, William Shakespeare Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Margaret Demorest Papers, CCA 10.2011.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2011.01_Demorest_Sonnets Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Written Annotations Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Margaret Demorest Sonnet Annotations: Sonnets 3 and 4 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1968 Subject The topic of the resource Shakespeare, William, -- 1564-1616 -- Sonnets; Sonnets, English -- History and criticism Description An account of the resource The following transcription of Demorest's annotations was selected and transcribed by Casper College Student and Archives staff member Grace MacPherson in January of 2024. Sonnet 3 Overall notes: Shelton is tutor to Henry 8 (3) Death of Queen – Eliz. Of York + possib. of rem. for Henry VII 1603 = death of Eliz. the q, Essex, too, said to resemble his mother Glass – wrinkles – golden time suggests E’s statement that she may still bear a child Cath[erine of Aragon] resembles Isabella [of Castile] Sonnet 4 Overall Notes: (4) Impecunious position of stranded Spanish pris[oners] Sir Thomas [illegible] treas. from Novil[?] 1586 1587 When does Isabella die? Frank – francois (free) Henry VII considers marrying Cath. Niggard might symbolize necromancer (word used this way elsewhere) 5 = use ewes hues Line 4 Free: Frank[,] Francis? Line 11 Gone: Aragon Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Demorest, Margaret; Shakespeare, William Language A language of the resource ENG, LAT Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Margaret Demorest Papers, CCA 10.2011.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2011.01_Demorest_Sonnets_03_04 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/e35dd36c1cafbb8dc0c18b13cbf3188b.pdf 9123950fe1eed931934ade80bbddc0a6 PDF Text Text ' r y, j’ -■ I I ic'^l —f .0 SONNET 1. 2 increase progeny. 2 rore Not only is the rose a conventional symbol of beauty and truth, but it is commonly used in Renaissance love poetry to stand for evanescent beauty, which is lost forever as the petals fall. 5 the riper . . . decease the mature “creature” die in due course of time. 4 tender young, immature. 5 contracted betrothed. 6 self-substantial composed of your own substance. 9 ornament that ' which beautifies. 10 only chief, gaudy gay, festive (not used in any pejorative sense). 11 thy content (a.) your prospects for joy (b) what you consist of, all that you are. 12 tender churl dear young miser, maft’st • • • riiggarding destroy (all that you consist of) by hoarding it (like a churl or miser). the world’s due that to which the world is entitled — propagation of the species. | | i i * | ^^1 I Vktt ' ■? reaturesyfe sirefincrease That ther^^beauty’s rosi ight nevej timd ddBease But as the ri -should iffhtlbe Hi<te ory;^‘j right e^ But! u, fcou/racted to 'me ow ameJ^7ith’§eI|^ubstaBtialJhi^ Feed’st^hyTTg e abundance lies. M in famine y foe, to yse ’siresh ornament u ne o And, /eriVer }:hu£ al th^ worl iest th ste in niggardiqgj-^ (s^utton be,' the CTave an<^ thee. Sretv?. i - , .. y wifiters'shall*^siege thyjbrow P SONNET 2.' /-“a besiege thy . . .'beauty's field The metapRor practice of warfare. The “trenches” are, of course, the wrinkles of old age. J proud gorgeous, livery outward appearance, uniform. ./ weed gar ment. 6 lusty full of life and spirit. 9 deserv’d . . . use would the ' investment (use) of your beauty have deserved (since it would have ii yielded you children), ii sum my account pay my debt (to nature). tnaAe . . . excuse defend me ^gainst accusations^that I h^ve wajted my beauty) when I am old. ” trenefes in tny l^auty’s field roudji'y^y, so Rd on np^ Wilhbe a tatter’d we^of si^al brtKbeld. ;re^^ll thy beauty lies, Then lb J)f thy lus_t;^.day (n deep-su ie and thriftless) Ifithqjrvpuldst answer, “ ly coimt-ajg^ P were to be^tfew^i ie^hy blood w;l 7 ■ Uc 1 1^6 I 3 ■t- � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Margaret Demorest Annotations on Shakespeare's Sonnets Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <div class="element-text five columns omega"> <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/</a> </div> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1968 Description An account of the resource Scans of a copy of Shakespeare's sonnets containing former Casper College English instructor Margaret Demorest's annotations. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Margaret Demorest, William Shakespeare Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Margaret Demorest Papers, CCA 10.2011.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2011.01_Demorest_Sonnets Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Written Annotations Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Margaret Demorest Sonnet Annotations: Sonnets 1 and 2 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1968 Subject The topic of the resource Shakespeare, William, -- 1564-1616 -- Sonnets; Sonnets, English -- History and criticism Description An account of the resource The following transcription of Demorest's annotations was selected and transcribed by Casper College student and Archives staff member Grace MacPherson in January of 2024. SONNET 1 Overall notes Sid – Arcadia [illegible] has 17 sonnets (9 are Eng. Form) Henry VII on throne – Marriage Arthur + Cath. Of Aragon Tudor symbol A Rose – maybe Raleigh? 1501 – Arthur, Prince of Wales, marries Cath. of Aragon – Nov. (See line 3) 1600 – Bruns burned [illegible] Rome Henry Tudor was Earl of Richm. Eyes here can be her attach. to Leic., preventing royal marriage What if Fair = Fr = Francis? Spring may mean Spain Theme of whole: Categories Is she to be the matron’s “tender” in marriage trade? Line 1 Increase: Marriage—family but not love “desired” Line 3 Decease: Cecil? Line 4 Bear: May be marriage with Leicester Line 10 Spring: Spain? Line 11 Buriest: Bear = leicester [sic] symbol Line 12 Waste in niggarding: denigrate[;] negromantike?[?] SONNET 2 Overall Notes Fair is part of title of [illegible] Baron Ferrers Death of Arthur; Henry becomes successor Mary Stuart born in 42 Jane suggests council speakers in this group but I’m inclined to think (perhaps) – over period of years – advice urying [sic] (quote Ransom) Arthur’s death possibly from corruption ’99 – Sir [illegible] probable host to [illegible] – More + he [illegible] – Henry, age 9 – encountered by them, (N born in ’91— Duke of York = Henry Mary Tudor m. to James IV of Scotl. He much older than she (she is 15) ([illegible] of James I, Engl) Maybe “best” is Bess ’02 Catherine’s tutor + confessor sent back home (Alessandra Gualdina[?]) 1601 1561 40 winters (from time of Bacon’s birth) Could I’s be J’s for James = House of St.? Line 1 Forty winters: prophecy: Scotland – winters Line 4 Weed: widow’s (Cath) Line 7 Eyes: Leic? Line 13 When thou art old: She’d be 65 after 40 years on throne Art: Stuart? 15 + 25 Catherine Howard will see her blood Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Demorest, Margaret; Shakespeare, William Language A language of the resource ENG, LAT Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Margaret Demorest Papers, CCA 10.2011.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2011.01_Demorest_Sonnets_01_02 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/589a2716c7bc5d47f96608f091057546.pdf 8f04325eb5e3d962b8aa3909e1489ba3 PDF Text Text Norm Weis INTRODUCTION . ------ —Several conversations were bouncing about the fac ulty lounge at a small college in ^entral Wyoming, When the physics professor mentioned having seen a ^WO-STORY OUTHOUSE, a sudden silence fell over the group. The phrase seemed to hang in the air as a dozen instructors tried to rationalize what seemed to be a conflict of terms. Finally someone weakened. (vbkay, I' 11 bite. How can an outhouse be two- storied^ Wo we r a all -ea’i oy sics prof told about (to e, uo ____ his visit to the old town of Dillon, Wybmin^,'Vexpecting punch line to crop out somewhere. was completely serious^. His explanation, however. �Norm Weis here wasn'^t much left in the town except a few tumbled-down log walls, an old safe, and the remains of a number of privies, some built on platforms above ground. elevated well I climbed the dozen or so steps on one that looked solid, and found what remained of an old two-holer. ^JWe bombarded the man with questions: Why was it elevated? Was there a door leading to the lower floor? it really two-^stori^? Was The professor fielded most of the questions, explaining that some outhouses in the town were merely elevated, but looked like the remains of honest= to=goodness two^story outhouses. Lrhat quieted the group down once more while everyone set to figuring just how such a structure might be designed. g-looLcf; , I wondered whabe the fate of some poor soul xdin CI occupy a seat on the main floor while another made use of the facilities above. we concluded, the two levels were offset. But the advantages of the two-story config uration remained a mystery. curiosity ■was? aroused, I determined to travel to Dillon at the first opportunity and have a look for myself. Little did I suspect that this would be the start of a twelve= year search fch.at -weiaid tak^ me to provinces. -2- states and four Canadian �TWO'STORY OUTHOUSE Norm Weis (^ld-=timers at or near each site I visited always suggested new places to observe unusual outhouses. Many leads were false, perhaps to faulty memories, but sometimes I was led down the garden path by reports I now know to be 100 per^^ent fictitious. reports About one in ten accurate, leading me to grand examples of yes terday s feats of sanitary engineering. ^_Along with these reports came a multitude of stories^ y^ome of -fehcoo otori-os had'^little to do with out^^^^-^ door plumbing ^ut^were as unforgettable as the best double= deckeyj\ the engineer ran his train through a house; the quicksand ford located smack across the middle of the road to town; or the sign mounted on the top level of one two- story outhouse that read: VA^ything over eight pounds must be lowered by rope took many trips to cover all the leads. Upon returning fromzr7<?J^ of these trips, I would find more sugges tions in the mail, many of them for sites near the towns just visited. Eventually I found dozens of elevated outhouses, and a number of honest-to-goodness two-story outhouses, some of which were still in operation. There were outhouses on high trestles, outhouses hanging over river banks, creek straddlers leaners, open air-jobs, outhouse=bridge combos, and one fantastic du-thouce in Calgary, Alberta, -fe^^dasd a two-door four= holer on top of a four=door eight=holer, the whole thing �TWO STORY OUTHOUSE orm topped with a cupola, capped in turn with a Canadian flag blowing stiffly in the breeze. Qlow, after a dozen years, thousands of miles of travel, and one hundred rolls of film, here is the of my search for the two-story outhouse. �Norm Weis j ^-CHAPTER j *V--- ---- The small ghost town named Dillon lies miles west of Encampment, deep in the Sierra Madre IlLii.iirtZLlii-l^^r ^outh Central Wyoming. The black=topped road changed to gi^avel twenty miles short of Dillon, then degenerated to muddy ruts covered with occasional snowbanks. At ■9jji5OD feet above sea level, access to town is possible for just two months each year, and then only by means of four-wheel drive vehicles. A local sheepherder calls the last three mile stretch the Alternate routeand explains, Vit alternates between mud a foot deep and boulders a foot high.'^ It began to rain as I drove along the deserted main street. A search of the town^/s remains revealed only collapsed log walls, a few cril^ike structures that looked like the re mains of elevated outhouses, and an old rusty safe blown open by some hopeful treasumpunter. -5- �I Thoroughly soaked, and muddy to the knees, I headed back to the pickup. Before I could reach my_ -chiol^^ a jeep pulled up alongside. The driver asked if I needed help. I had to holler to be heard over the sound of the rain. \/^es, -•-^'^^ould you tell me if there is an outhouse around here^</ ^outh agape, the driver quxmlSy cranked up the window of the jeep and drove off. I slipped and bumped my way downhill. back to Encampment, hoping to gamer some information from the local old=timers. |_Vera Oldman, the leading historian of the town, had for some years undertaken the job of preserving feii^artifacts U13.4 of the mining era that^brought life to the towns in that area. She was a prime mover in the establishment of the local museum. 5h6 hoped to reconstruct one of Dillon’s two;story outhouses and perhaps restore one of the many towers that made up the --- ----- longest tramway in the worl<j^tfest ore miles from the mine just north of Dillon/^o the ore smelter in Encampment. I The literature already assembled at the small museum revealed a number of interesting characters, and offered an explanation or two concerning the two-story outhouses. Ed Haggarty found the blue rock in 1897 while herding sheep on the high slopes. copper meant money. He knew that blue meant copper, and His sheep herding days were over. -6- He �T^^S^ORY OljjTHOUSE Norm Weis took a partner named Ferris/and developed the deposit. two others bought into the operation. Later, The town that grew nearby was named Rudefeha/ wdtQi two letters from each manys name, Ferris and Haggarty bringing up the rear. When the four mine owners barred saloons from the town that blossomed around the copper mine, the drinking faction, which comprised the major faction, moved one mile south and established their own town^iajad-'named it Dillon. after the leading saloon man, Malachi Dillon. town T- no one ever called it ordinary. It was a strange At its peak it had several dozen log homes/ and eight buildings on Main Street, six of them saloons. Malachi's had a sign over the bai;^ V't^ree meals if you drink enough / The buildings along Main Street were fronted with \II7 . . boarc^walks elevated above the roacj^—' built^igh as a marevs back\/^o one ever shoveled snow off the streets -q- they just tramped the snow down under foot and hoped that it never came above the board walks. The heavy snows also brought about the ultimate refinement of one of marK/s most basic necessities. the outhouse. In Dillon, the elevated outhouse, and indeed the two-story outhouse came into its own. timers claim the outhouse began its spurt to new heights when a father of four got fed up with shoveling the path to the outhouse. It seems the thundermugs were -7- �Norm Weis filled from the previous night, and the emergency call was being sounded by two of the young ones. Dad was clearing the path through two feet of snow in a valiant race with the call of nature. For the third time month. Poona lost the race and suffered the abuses of an irate spouse faced with another foul mess. With the conviction of a man driven by anger, but possessed of a solution, the father went straight S to the local carpenter and gave explicit instructioi^; [ \J3uild me another outhouse, and put the damned thing on top of the snowbank! If we get another heavy snow. I’ll have you buil^ another one^v one knows how many he had built, but he most definitely started a new architectural trend in Dillon. By the next fall, nearly everyone had elevated his outhouse and had built ''^i^mmer stepsSome built log cribs 3jor(j^feet high and placed their outhouses on top. Most dug pits and built outhouses on enclosed stilts, but those few relied on the crib as the waste receptacle got a surprise the night of the first hard freeze. As the residue froze and expanded, the cribs split open with a resounding These structures remained solid until spring, when severe listing made their use hazardous. Many folk built new outhouses that matched heights with the second stoncj of their homes. The sanitary house was reached simply by going upstairs and walking out the connect-, �Norm Weis Some outhouses were twenty feet tall. There was no use made of the^d ower floorV^on most of these structures. The free-fall distance was nearlyf12 J feet. On a quiet day there was little privacy. A few outhouses reportedly utilized both floors. full-length dividing partition separated the two. A Given the choice, an old hand would prefer to use the upper floor. It 1 was quieter and di^er, tnough aromatic. Back in Encampment, the local madam solved the snow problem a different way. She built an enclosed walkway to the e privy to eliminate snow shoveling and to ^nsure the privacy of her customers. Business boomed. In 1901,Grant Jones, already saddled Lj a severe drinking problem, but possessed of a magic pen, started a newspaper called ’^he Dillon Doublejack.The first issue carried the following; To the most distinctive brotherhood in y\0 the world, the boys of the drill and the pan, whose members see the word welcome on fewer doormats, and know more about hospi tality, travel over more miles of land. and see fewer railroad tracks, eat more bacon and see fewer hogs, drink more milk. condensed, and see fewer cows, worship -9- �Tjtfo^S'/’ORY oy?THOUSE~^ Q^orm Weis nature more and see fewer churches, regard women with more chivalry and see fewer of them, judge men better, and wear fewer starched shirts, undergo more hardships and make fewer complaints, meet more dis appointments and retain more hopes than any class of men in the whole wide world ” to the brotherhood of quartz and placer I prospectors and miners I dedicate the _. DILLON DOUBLEJACK!**-^ Jones, who apparently never bought a meal/since his drinking always qualified him for the free eats, had a grand way with words. His wild stories of rare animals, which he called his Alco-Colic stories, were published in many nation ally circulated dailies. Half the country read of his Cooly Woo, that could dig itself to safety in solid rock, and the Bockaboar that had short legs on one side for traversing slopes at high speed, but often got dizzy from rotating ever clockwise. There was also the One'^Eyed Screaming Emu that could disappear by swallowing itself in one huge gulp. - j^ditor Jones had a great future, but he died suddenly, just six months after his arrival. It seems that he drank himself into a mild fit, and when he began to see strange creatures, his pals administered a'^ho^^of morphine. Morphine was available over the counter then, f -lQ-1 dosages �Norm Weis were a bit vague. He died, they say, from\^n advanced case of sociability, complicated by good intentionsXz He became one of the first to disprove his own oft-made statement: '^In Dillon there are no morgues, no graveyards, and no dead visited Encampment a number of times, checking the progress of the museum and the reconstruction of the two^^story outhouse. Eventually both reached completion. On thdse occasions when weather permitted, I would travel o Dillon, past the old deserted towns of Rambler, Copperton and Battle. Placed almost equidistant Q coU'lg i>^ “thgfrom these towns, a bronze plaque claims that^Thomas Edison got the idea of using a carbon filament in his as yet un successful light bul^^^^^ilo-fiching—in the arc-a. ( I searched Dillon several times. Nothing in the bu-t', way of outhouses remained worthy of a photography^ /ne mile north, the remains of the Ferris-Haggarty Mine were quite spectacular. The main structure still stood astraddle the shaft. At its foundation flowed a small stream, tumbling over the same blue rock that signaled "l^^aggarty’s original discovery. Haggarty and his partners did well by selling the operation for million in 1902. In 1908, the price of copper dropped and the operation ceased. -11- Five �Norm Weis thousand people left the area. Now you would have trouble rounding up five folk in the deserted towns sprinkled about the mine. ^ncampment survived and became a quaint village in the foothills, populated by ranchers, a few storekeepers, and nature lovers escaping the city. Part of its charm IS its slow acceptance of the niceties of modern civiliza- tion. Each time I entered Encampment, I w. sign in front of the gas station; ^Indoor Toilet.v It -Hzie seemed to proper I On my last visit to Encampment I was directed to the tiny cabin of an old duffer who had /recently/returned^ from a visit to old folksv home^ IfeTived a frugal life, mainly with the help of friends and neighbors. He filled in many of the missing details, and added a new chap- ter to the art- of growing old. ^im was leading a happy life, living in his little cabin. sponging a bit here, making a buck there, when we 11'= meaning folk decided he belonged in old folks’ home a few miles fe^^Sl^^north. They left Jim no choice he was packed (or his own good?'/' Jim found his up and moved new home quite unsatisfactory, but he had a plan to rectify the problem. He invested his /osrf:. (I 1 and got the entire population of -tils old- fol4^^ home roaring dtunk. cabin'^. They kicked him out, afld he returned to his little broke, hungover and happy. -12- �Norm Weis " SaBjword got around the college, the town, and eventually the state, that some strange character at the college was looking for two=istory outhouses and other odd structures, which many residents interpreted to mean nog ranchesranch,seemed, was a term given to any house of ill fame^ whorehouse, that is^ tlwrt wac located near a military installation. / As to why they were called ranches, ”^^ere were several explanation^?)--' pn^suchsta 1^ishnent was operated by a man named ^Hog^**aBsd'''since many of these houses specialized in good food, as well as close company, perhaps the name came from the offering of pork on the ment^ most likely, the name came from the physical makeup of the usual crib ladies. L Whatever the background of the term, my curiosity was again piqued, and I^includeji-^a few hog ranches in my alotnc cj rftn next tour of the area^ Thio tgip would iuulLid'e forts, -hog ranches^ an old mining town or two, and any other sight-S that might have an outstanding outhouse or unusual story. I stopped at Horse Shoe Springs a few miles south of Glendo, Wyoming, mainly because it was on my route. was once the home of Bad Man Slade, who at the age of began his evil career by killing a man with a rock. -13- His It �TI)lrO=sfoRY orm Weis father promptly sent him West from his home in Illinois, but he continued with the killing habit, finally reaching the lower end of a tai^t rope in Montana. [_The site of the old stage station is presently azouvod occupied by the Lancaster Ranch. The owners showed me about the—proudly pointing out the bullet=proo:^triple =■ walled structure of the ranch house that replaced the stage station. They told me of the Indian fight that occurred there in 1868. Frequently referred to as the ^*^loody Trail Massacre, it is one of the best documented fights involving Chief Crazy Horse. It was,one of the very few times that Indians attacked at night and in midwinter. (captain Smith and four troopers were at the old station/ whenQGT) Indians, led by Chief Crazy Horse, accosted them. The Indians soon retired behind a butte yards away Two scouts sent out by the ^aptain were promptly chased back. Portholes were opened, the door barred, and the fight was on. Two Indians were killed. ^In mid^morning, two other troopers, chased by Indians, managed managed to break through and arrive at the 2ta tation. It was now seven against sixty-five. The men in the Station had nothing to drink but Red Jacket Bitters, which did much for mora]^ but little to improve accuracy with a rifle. Two men were sent out to get - 14- �T^=S/ORY OUTHOUSE Norm Weis water, but quickly returned with a report that the Indians had gathered at the well. I lo'.oo , (At fe«a-jp.g. , the Indians set fire to the building, 1O/Ci 1/1 C| " causing the troopers to crawl through the (l^=foot tunnel that led to a sod dugout, filling/the tunnej/i^behind them. The ^tation burned, and while the Indians celebrated, the men dug out and escaped with their belongings, including gallon keg of whiskey. ^J^e Indians found the troopers the next morning a few miles south, on the trail to Fort Laramie. One trooper took an arrow in the eye, but promptly yanked it out, eye and all, and went on fighting. Another soldier was hit above the eye, loosening a flap he had to hold up with one hand. He was killed as the group ran for better cover. Another trooper was killed/^nd mutilated. The troopers were now down to five men, three of them wounded. �Norm Weis, —One badly wounded man had to be left behind as the group took new positions. He committed suicide. It was now four troopers against forty Indians. rounds of ammunition left called for talks. the troopers Chief Crazy Horse, who spoke English, was willing, and promptly commended the men for their valiant fight. '^ou four very brave we kill only three of you.^ This prompted an attempt to barter whiskey for lives, and both sides agreed to walk back to the whiskey cache. ) C^he whis^ was turned over, with the tap open and the suggestion that the Indians take it back to their camp and drink it there. Indians. There was no stopping the They set to drinking right thpny^*^ -thow^ and the troopers took off down a ravine. A few shots were fired at them, but pursuit was forgone lest a turn at the keg be lost. The four troopers eventually got to Fort Laramie and safety. They had lost all their belongings, but others had lost more. ^ort Laramie, like most of the forts in the West, had no stockade. This fact contributed to the port’s most embarrassing moment during the summer of 1864. For three days a large detachment had been scouting the area for Indians, splitting into Sitpa/f for sign. groups to search They met back at the /ort, unsaddle<^bh&-ir horocc and adjourned to the barracks while the horses rolled on the �T^O=S^ORY OJ^THOUSE Norm Weis Thirty Indians suddenly materialized and ex /•rd chased off the horses! It took an hour for soldiers to parade ground. begin their fruitless pursuit. The Indians, constantly changing horses, had little trouble outdistancing the troopers, who were stuck with one horse Apiece. [Today, much of the Fort rsrefurbished to show ^xacrtXy the way it was. One can almost see the soldiers on parade, the cheers and horse^play on pa^^ay, or imagine Jim Bridger outside the Sutjers Store smashing lice in the seams of his clothing, using two flat rocks, while regaling off=duty soldiers with tall stories. ^^ohn Hunton, a prominent hay rancher in the late 1800’s, was a friend to many of the famous men and women that visited the Fort Laramie are^ Men like Hi Kelly, Bat Gamier, Heck Reel, Wild Bill HickroeW, Portugee Phillips, Jim Bridger, Slippery Sam Slaymaker, Calamity Jane, and the famous stage driver, Thomas C. Todd, champion drinker who claimecK^^'^ / Hunton’s diairy, released some years after his demise, carried a Jiumber of fascinating entries. One iiHiji'ntii the solution to a -^^i^OQ^robbery; Tom Wilson's money recovered from Pat Corbliss after hanging him a little. —\ Nice Day. �Norm Weis As to Calamity Jane; ^er achievements have been very greatly magnified by every writer I have ever read, for she was among the commonest of her class. She seldom ever carried a rifle when riding horseback from place to place, and I do not think I ever saw her with both rifle and pistol. Her one redeeming trait was that she seldom spoke of what she had done or could do with gun and pi '*! first saw her in about My ranch was a general road ranch and place 1875. of entertainment for the traveling public Jane often stopped at my place, especially 1876, 77, 78. She worked often at hog ranches at Fort Fetterman and Fort Laramie until General CrookX*^ army organized in May when she and three other women of same character were smuggled out with the command and remained with it until found out and ordered back\/"^r Later in his diary. Hunton states that Calamity Jane worked as one of the girls at a house of ill fame, and that \7she wasn’t one of the better ones.'^ , [ And about another famous* character -^whose name Hunton spelled his own way: -18- �Norm Weis I will now refer to J I knew fairly well in 1874 and late in the year 1875...,During that time I do not think he knew VXlalamity Jan^^ or had ever seen her....X In less than a month I heard of Biliks death. He was assas- inated at Deadwood by a stage drive3^ Jack McCaul, who was lynched for the deed, by a mob reputedly led by Calamity, but at that time Calamity was in the hands of the Militairy authorities ?^Crooks Army)^.' As to John Hunton^s expertise at judging women, he left no question that he had plenty of experience. For many years before his demise, he lived with a woman and kept secret from his wife. He had no hesitation to tell all about the second woman in his diary. Wyoming had two famous hog ranches, on^just north of Fort Fetterman near DouglasS\-feCTsitig fon’’the~Bozeman"Ro^the other, called **Three Mile' west of Fort Laramie on the Cheyenne-Deadwood Stage Road. Since liquor and loose women were barred from the military forts, these houses had to exist outside the(^^ile radius of prohibition imposed by the y6miy. The girls were referred to as painted ladies, fallen women, crib women, tenderloin ladies, and generally were the lowest of the lot. The food and booze were good, and change was often given in brass tokens good for a -19- �Norm Weis at the bar, or for service in one of the small rooms or cribs. ion-Xwith houses of ill fame reportedly came from the^habityrai 1 road~~men^hwi of leaving their lanterns outside the door. around the hog ranches That term was seldom used since the nearest railroad was ’3® '' miles south. IS now a respectable ranch. first visited the site, the new owner (?£■ th When I ±i had just discovered the questionable histoiry of his aquisition. He had recently tom up the floor boards of the saloon and crib areas the old grout building that made up the original hog He found a few coins, some tokens, and evidence that -t-InCct' someone had gone over the same ground earlier. It seems^at ranch. least two people figured that change tends to fall out of pockets easily when the clothing deviates from the vertical. -20- �man on the telephone was positive, and the fact that he had made a toll call lent considerable credence to his story. have found a perfect two^story outhouse for you. left immediately, stopping by his office in Douglas, Wyoming, to obtain directions. He seemed a bit less sure of himself after our discussion revealed that his ’^ind had only one door. an hour later, and(13 miles south, I located the structure, which turned out to be unusual in that it was indeed very tall, perhaps fifteen feet. A single door opened to a roomy space, only partially occupied by the necessary facilities. The upper portion was composed of slatted vents, making this the sweetest smelling privy it had been my privilege to visit. Those living nearby explained that the building was once the air vent for a underground potato storage area. -21- One gentleman was sorry �brm Weis that I had not found an honest two story privy, and suggested I look into the old deserted town of Kirwin, across the state. where he personally had seen the real thing. ^^irwin was another false lead, but as always, something interesting happened on the way to the site. sign at the turnoff to a ranch a few miles from the town site read; I ^**N0 HUNTING NO FISHING NO NOTHING DOl^ ASK**^ L- no I drove in and asked. ing The rancher got a kick out of my ask said he had met a lot of fine but stubborn people be- cause of that sign. [on an earlier trip, I had noted a sign of a different nature that was even more effective; Hunters, Fishermen And Trespassers Welcome $200 Per Day Tre^p^ss Fee^ Pay At Hdqtrs. 2 mi East."** The welcome sign wasn'^t out at Kirwin either. First there was a locked gate on a public road, which upon close inspection revealed a big padlock on a heavy chain, but with one open link hidden behind the gate^^ost. A sneaky way to discourage travel on the road, even though it led to a forest ^ervice campground, as well as the deserted town site of Kirwin. 7-22- �I entered and drove ahead only to be stopped by a man with a gun. I asked entrance " he denied same, explaining he was hired by a mining company. I claimed public road, he chuckled. I got out a six=pack of beer. He put away the gun. Half an hour later, I drove on up to Kirwin, waving back at my new friend who made me promise to stop by on the way out. ^orty miles west of Meeteetse in ^est ^entral tityoming, Kirwin sits in a narrow valley, 9200 feet above sea level, surrounded by steep slopes leading to the high It was beautiful -- almost like a H Old mining equipment, long idle, lay peaks of the Absarokas. bit of Switzerland. scattered about, covered with a deep layer of red dust, no longer capable of probing the earth for copper and molybdenum. Mine shafts penetrated the ground in a dozen places. A barrel-type hoist bucket rested on the ground next to the Wolf Mine. A large building nearby had to have been a board- in^^house. Upstream on the north bank of the tumbling stream stood the tall remains of the Tumlum Tumalum^ Mine. It I seemed to be just the right situation for a tall privy or two — H high altitude, steep slopes, and most likely subject to heavy winter snow accumulations. There were no doubt a few tall ones in town at one time, but none remained -- not even short H one s. In 1935, long after the mines had shut down, Amelia Earhart filed claim on a beautiful high bench above the �OjShOuS Txam'^a^'lum Mine. Norm Weis She ordered a cabin built shortly before one of her long ever'ocoqr flights. Work on the cabin was suspended when word arrived that Amelia was missing over the Pacific. ( Walls 'three, logs high, a door jambzand a small wooden airplane on a pole^propeller spinning in the wind, ■ stand as a small tribute. 0 tv N ^Bonnevilie, and a number of other small nearly deserted towns lay on my route home. None of the settlements had sewer systems, and were prime prospects for tall privies. /a sign on the main highway points north to Bonne ville. It’s an official highway sign,(^feet byfeet, big enough to cause one to believe that indeed town can be reached via the gravel road that lies adjacent. I had driven north a scant three miles when I was confronted with an oldfashioned ford. It was perhapfeet to the far side where the road took up again and became the main street of Bonneville. In the center of the broad sandy expanse was a small creek. perhaps an inch or two deep and twenty feet across. I was about to drive across when I noticed several faces pressed to the window of the railroad station across the creek. When two fellows ran outside the building to watch, I chickened out and walked over to the railroad bridge and picked my way across the ties. 24- �Railroad, waiting for the train to arrive in order to relieve ( On . J the on baaiff^cre^^I came along just in time to offer a bit of entertainment. /jhe ford, I was told, was pure quicksand. They explained that it was used only in the winter when the creek was frozen. The alternate route to town from the highway to the west was used at all other times. ^^According to one of the crew, several old cars lie deep within the quicksand. One case, he said, was spectacular. Some years ago, in early spring, the driver of a late model car got a run for it and almost made it across. He was stuck up to the running boards but was able to scramble to solid ground and hike to the nearest'^il^ig^town for help. A few hours later, after the car had sunk to the roof, a caterpillar tractor rumbled up, and a cable was dug down to the windows. The *^^t”'''^ulled and pulled, and finally the car slowly re sponded but only the body of the car came free, leaving the frame and wheels to join the ever-growing crop of relics deep beneath treacherous Bad Water Creek. I^n 1919, a trestle upstream washed out and spilled a freight train into the creek. to sink out of sight. Half the train threatened It took weeks to rebuild the trestle and recover the engine and some of the cars. -25- The caboose �Norm Weis parts of some flat cars washed downstream to sink into quicksand. ^^ut the most spectacular event to hit Bonneville the big explosion that blasted the little town in 1921. A truck driver, delivering 750 quarts of nitroglycerin to -R II the Birdseye Mine, hit a ditch/ and.KA-BLOOOEEE, -- blew a f\ H hole in the ground big enough to bury a house. The biggest piece left of the truck was the armature from the generator. Most of the houses of the town were built stoutly of used ties spiked together, and consequently weathered the blast with only a loss of window panes. Those houses still stand. some s-tir±~l occupied as vacation homes. The windows in town blew out a second time when a miner walked into the local bar with a stick of dynamite jammed in his hip pocket. A two-foot fuse extended from one Someone lit it! Cfii (3i t\i Qpst Cabin was a few miles east. There might be a tall outhouse, or at least a tall story there. latter ~ a tall story It was the but true, of course. (_l^st Cabin, like Bonneville, is located on Bad Water Creek, and the only store in town, Oki^ Store, sits in the middle of town. According to Mary Helen Hendry, a ^26- �local ^tyoming historian, a gang of bullies blew into town one day, and one of them promptly proceeded to intimidate store proprietor, Okie. The roughie pulled a gun, shot into the ceiling and shoutecj^J) a bad man from Stinking Creek. Fast thinking Okie snatched up a rifle and replied^^^ ^^Well, the stinking man from~Bad Water Creek^^ and backed the bad n^n out at gun point. ——CiTy r^me weeks later I set out for Dale City, Wyoming, where reliable information led me to believe a buthouse^sed to stand. twoc-story Dale City sounded like a good bet. since all the structures in town were said to be built of rock. Outhouses and jails are both strong/ and tend to outlast larger buildings. My chances looked good! (rhe jail stood, but the outhouse either never existed, or had been dismantled in order to improve some other structure. But as usual a memorable story emerged to fill the void. A few miles to the northeast, the Union Pacific, in 1938, built a trestle across a deep ravine. Indeed, the construction of Dale City was a result of the work crew^^ extended residence while constructing the 200-foot^^high. 650=="foot-?lon2 masterpiece. It was the tallest and largest ioi<i I on the but it was doomed to cause trouble. No allow- -27- �Norm Weis ance had been made for the gale force winds that plague that part of the country, particularly at the change of seasons. [_Soon the trestle joints loosened, making passage dangerous. A dozen long guy wires designed to eliminate the sway were bolted to the tracks, extending to deeply embedded anchors. In one season, the wires were stretched, and the sway was back. The crews of trains were so frighten ed of the trestle, that they made it a practice to stop short. pile out, and flip a coin to see who walked across alone. Then the engineer would set the throttle on dead -^low, and the crew would watch the train cross the trestle "^appeLLa. ” After the train was caught and stopped, the rest of the crew would walk across resume the trip. Crews of passenger trains had to gut. it out in order to foster '’^p^senger confi dence. On the way home from that trip, I took a back road, hoping to stumble across a truly unusual outhouse. As if I had willed it, a tall structure appeared ahead/ next to an old deserted house. It was twenty feet tall, had a door below and a door on top, accessed by a built-in ladder. heart leaped and I grabbed for the cameras. I shot two rolls of film of the exterior, then opened the lower door. was empty except for a big rusty pipe running from floor to ceiling. The floor was covered with sawdust, several feet deep in the comers. -28- �Norm Weis (jhe upper door opened to reveal a large insulated metal tank. The pieces began to fit together. elevated water supply and ice house combination. This was an Water in the top and ice below offered ice cold water on tap all SLimmer long. ^_W^t a corns'^own. In all my travels about the state, I had found remains of just one tall privy, the one in Dillon. The reconstruction of the privy was under way, ■but the fact was I had searched most of my home state and photographed not one two=story outhouse. / It was time to branch out. be more productive. -29- Perhaps Montana would �Ttfo-SfORY OUTHOUSE Norm Weis » ! -•• -"1 , ----- I TaPDinE' Occasionally the obvious seems to elude a person, especially when he gets deeply involved in a subject -- sort of like failing feo se^xhe trees for the forest. It finally became evident to me that tall outhouses were to be found at northern latitudes/^r high altitudes. The mountain state of Montana should therefore be a prime source for two^story outhouses. (^knew there were tall outhouses of a sort in Virginia City, Montana. I had photographed a few of them some years be fore, and had taken somewhat suspicious note of the reconstructed tall outhouse in nearby Nevada City. ^oth towns deserved a second look, and this time I would not be distracted by the usual sights -- old mines, saloons, dredges, and the like. �O^iTHOUSE^Z (Norm Weis I laid out a tjour of Montana^^^tarting just north of Yellowstone Park at the old mining town of Jardine,* working west to Virginia City* then north, following the Rocky Mountains* then east*^then (againJnortt^ to the Little Rockies near the Canadian border. As leads developed, I could plan a zig^ zag return to Wyoming. It looked like a three week trip of about miles. 11 packed sleeping bag, cookstove, food and cameras^ Ced figuring on camping out a lot, staying at a motel every four or five days to maintain a taste for civilization, and deCI'inc . velo^'^a few rolls of film as proof of my cameraVs integrity. I Jardine was a quiet place when I tscd visited a few years before, but now had been during the mining days. was almost as busy a€ it The nearby slopes were vJa5 beii^ groomed as ski runs, construction of several lifts ^Mse underway, and new cabins and lodges were sprouting up all over the place. The suspiciously tall thin structures viewec/ on an earlier trip seemed to have vanished. look. There would be no second The old outhouse behind the mill was still intact, and was still only one story high. It was, however, an outstanding structure, well engineered for its purpose. It looked from the outside to be about one outhouse deep and four wide. The inside was bare except for two long poles. You could walk the length of the outhouse on the narrow floor, and take your �Norm Weis ease an37where on the lower of the two horizontal poles, then I lean your back against the upper pole -- sort of a two-point H suspension, mid^thigh and mid^^back. No doubt it was designed for minimal comfort to discourage loafers. polished by the hundreds mill workers The logs were well labored at the site from 1917 to 1948. Jardine might have been a disappointment, but an incident that occurred on the road to Virginia City brought my sense of humor back to normal. [j-t was a long straight stretch of highway, and far ahead I noticed a man walking along the center line. drove closer, I could see he was staggering. worsened as I coasted toward him. As I His stagger I came to a stop as he spun around a full 360^and collapsed dead in the middle of the black I had a strong urge to hop out and lend a hand, but some- top. His collapse was too perfect -- just like n the kind John Wayne did as a green actor, and kids everywhere thing looked fishy. imitated for the next twenty years. I held my place behind the wheel and studied the man. His clothes were tattered and dirty. creased with wrinkles. His face was tanned and He looked like a circus clown without As I watched, an eyelid flickered, and in the instant. makeup. I could see his eye was trained on me quite precisely. • J • That ' did it -- I backed up and drove around him, pulling o£ to the �Norm Weis -side of the road a few hundred yards beyond. (The noise of an approaching car brought about a most spectacular recovery. The bum was instantly on his feet, wob bling along the center line, cocking a careful but fleeting eye on the approaching car, letting the stagger increase to another full turn, ending with complete collapse on the center line. ^^his man was quite an actor, and it turned out, a talented panhandler. When offered assistance, he would slowly recover, stagger a bit, refuse a ride, but put the bite on for a bit of the green stuff. / I watched him operate for nearly an hour. He batted a bit over 500, netting folding money from each successful ploy, and recovering instantly from each failure. [When he noticed that I was watching, he put on an even better show. He was up to a three-turn dying spiral, going for an Oscar when I finally left the scene, -n-,. K the KJ --- [Virginia City was much same as I had remembered it; quite commercialized, but thoroughly fascinating and essen tially genuine. Although most of the buildings in town were burned as firewood in the postfboom years, a rich core of buildings remain on the dozen or so square blocks that make up the business district of this town that once claimed more than -WrOOO citizens. �Tjfcs^^ORY Ol^THOUSE Norm Weis The site would have remained pristine prairie had not Bill Fairweather and six friends camped at the head of the gulch a few hundred yards to the south. When Bill unlimbered his gold pan and washed a load of gravel, he uncovered the richest placer deposit in the world, and started a gold rush that would eventually move 4OO million in gold from the ground into the miners’ pockets. The discovery was in 1863, and within a year the gulch was named Wlder,^and a town called Virginia c( City exploded into existence at a rate of almost per week! —-- - , , buildings �/JtV/Q DA : W;/<. G/TV Aa\JI> ]_In 1864 Montana Terri-^^djr was established, with One yearyZater, Virginia City Bannack declared as its capital took over as capital by virtue of its overwhelming population, only to lose it to Helena in 1875. The boom years of 1863 to 1868 brought about some strange incidents involving the towns of Virginia City, its suburb to the west called Nevada City, and its rival, Bannack, just eighty miles west. The road connecting these towns became the playground for a bunch of dry land pirates robbed, plundered and murdered. held up, From June to December of 1863, the gang robbed and killed more than 190 men. When a particularly brutal and bloody murder was committed just prior to Christmas, the citizens rose up in anger and organized a vigilante committee of ^5^. Within six weeks, twenty men had been hanged. Frank Parish, George Lane, Haze Lyons, Jack Gallagher, Boon Helm, yi a) and Club-Foot George Lane stretched te±tB±x ropes from the exposed �17^0= SjZoRY OUTHOUSE Norm Weis beams of a half:ifinished building in Virginia City. A club footed man should have known he would be recognized, mask or no mask. If this begins to sound like a silent movie plot, then hang tight -- it gets better. ( The ^heriff of Bannack, elected in spite of his recent prison record at San Quentin, offered to cooperate fully with the 2^gilantes. But on the sly, he met with his cronies and planned the very robberies the^igilantes were sworn to stop. The gang held secret meetings over the livery in Vir ginia City, in the roadhouse later to be called^^llobber^ Roost,\/just west of Nevada City, and of course in the ^herifJ^s office in Bannack. The ^heriff, it seems, robbed the public at night/^nd chased after himself during the day. [ The double life of Sheriff Henry Plummer was re vealed when a robbery victim spotted scars on the back of one of the robbeiX>^ hands. Foolishly, the robber^sheriff had re moved his glove in order to unlock a strong box. The alert ob server later saw those same scars on a hand attached to Sheriff Plummer. They hanged Plummer and his two deputies in Bannack. ^Llwo other suspected gang members, Captain Jack Slade and John)\ythe HatJ^ Dolan, were hanged at Nevada City. Slade was notorious as the winner of a number of Xj^air fights,v one of which involved shooting with a gun hidden under his coat. Slade was apprehended for being drunk and disorderly, �TWO=StORY OUTHOUSE Norm Weis and apparently hanged as a public service. Both Slade and Dolan asked for clemency, their excuse being that they were drunk at the time of the crime. Some folk in the crowd suggested that they each be given a few drinks so they could drunk, all in the interests of justice. be / The Chinese moved into Virginia City when the original placer miners moved out. At one time, six^^ompanie^v 5’(x I of Chinese, about men, worked the diggings near town. A serious rift came about over boundary lines, and the six com- panies split into two factions. The argument escalated to tZiACi fight Sy. xA all=out war. They fought for two days /\ 4 and shot up all their ammunition without killing a soul on either side. they resorted to hand^tosfhand fighting with A A pick and shovel, two men were fatally injured. Eleven Chinese were tried for the killings. positive identification. Chinese looked alike. All were released for lack of White witnesses claimed all the Chinese witnesses, with great wisdom, agreed/ filled with a strong sense of history, I drove to Ir the Cornucopia Mine fei»t overlook^ Virginia City. I could glass the buildings in town. From there I spotted the old brewery, the saloon, the livery, and Sauerbuer’s Smithy, where -36- j �T)6Ss^0RY OlJrTHOUSE Norm Weis oxen were slinged and trussed for shoeing. And back there, behind the di^^oods store, and also behind the old Richard Cook residence, were two tall outhouses! ^__Behind Hanna and Mary McGoveriii4 Dry Goods =(toys a speciality?- was a single-seat outhouse ■thab=£a2e more than C0CL3 /V fifteen feet in the aiy^^wxfeh its floor^seven feet above ground level, the loftiness of the structure made necessary by the downward slope of the ground at the rear of the store. A small deck led from the store'^s rear entrance to the door of the outhouse -- almost an inside outhouse. /I The Richard Cook residence was built on ground that was comparatively level. The outhouse that looked tall from afar was actually floored a modest four feet above ground -M hardly worthy of a photograph. [^J^sauntered about town, enjoying authentic items, ignoring the commercial. Finally I entered the Bale of Hay Saloon and had a drink for old time^sake, then stepped out^ side and put the spurs to my trusty steed. had a coke and climbed into my pickup.^ Nevada City was just a mile and a half to the west of Virginia City. I had to stop and see how the reconstructed two-story outhouse had fared. The first time I visited the site, I was amazed to see that the outhouse was not a working, functioning relief -37- ■ft'O �T^O=S^ORY OUTHOUSE Norm Weis -y station, although it certainly looked like it was us'^ble. / had fooled a number of tourists. It Instead of being built with a free=fall chute from upper seat to the pit below, it simply ! had an enclosed bench with a cut out seat. And of course the tourists used it. ;&iid jifter one season it was full. [rhe second time I visited the site, they had j placed a pot under the seat. Of course the pot would have to be emptied frequently. ^Ihis was my third visit, and this time the upper door was boarded shut. There is a lesson there somewhere, having to do with reconstructing faithfully or not reconstruct ing at all. [jMost of the items in Nevada City were either moved in or recently built, not so much as an historical effort, but more as a matter of free enterprise. The old hotel in Nevada City was originally the Salisbury Stage Station, once lo cated near Ruby, Montana. It is worth a look, but it would have been better i:^had stayed in Ruby. ^Fifteen miles west of Nevada City on the south side of a road set back in a cozy grove of trees, is the marvelous old roadhouse once called'C^aley^s Place.\/ Pete Paly ^Daley)^ built it and ran the establishment as a stopping place for travelers on the Virginia City Bannack road. C-38- For several �T^0=st0RY O0THOUSE Norm Weis months he offered bed and meals plus entertainment. Rooms on J [3icJ the first floor were labeled ^achus^and Lady Luck^^dining and gambling^, and the second floor was termed the V^terps?I chore -- Ardent Swains and Seductive SirensJ^T^entertainment M areas. (^V^ithin six months the roadhouse became one of the secret hideouts for the Plummer gang, and that stretch of road east and west became the bloodiest, most dangerous(^^8^)^miles in the territory. Later, Pete Daly's Tavern became known as **i^bbers'^ Roost e^trlferZ If you look closely you will see the symbol(5 scratched in the logs of the building. Perhaps it was a code or a password, but like ZorroV/s always shoved up after the Vigilantes caught up with and dispatched an outlaw or two. That same symbol appeared in other towns at other times, per haps as a warning to local crooks that the ^igilantes were watching. frhe town of Bannack is now a ^tate j/ark and a Ration al Ristoric landmark. Among the buildings now preserved are Hs I two old jails, Masonic Mall built in 1874, a school that dates from 1871, and a classic frame church constructed in 1879 But the crowning glory is the beautiful brick building known as the Meade Hotel. Built with class, and intended to last, it cg-' sported two stories, each with ceilings, a spiral stair£I«— case six feet wide, double-decker porticos and vaulted windows at the front. �T^S'/’ORY Oj^THOUSE Norm Weis (At the south edge of town, a five=ton mill was still in operation. Fiv^ton^ means it can crush five tons of ore each hour. They were extracting concentrated ores of silver, lead and zinc, with a few traces of gold. The mill is a bit of an antique, but it runs and pays a profit. It^ a frugal operation, and no money has been wasted on paint. Off to the side are two outhouses, and in keeping with the operatoi\ys economic policy, only one has a sign on it, and that sign read^^IMMIN J_Gold was found on nearby Grasshopper Creek in 1862, one year before the Virginia City strike. Bannack'^ boom was less spectacular, but longer lasting than its rival to the east. -tt^OULSgtndj It grew to a population of than by 1863, and spurted to more afewyears later when the hand dug ditches brought badly needed water to the local placers. ^ny diligent ghost town buff is bound to note that the last buildings to collapse and disappear are the jails and outhouses, no doubt because they are both strong. Although the latter may be strong in more than one sense, it remains a fact that the shorter the dimensions, the stouter the structure, [ Bannack has two jails, both Hwre years old. One, the smallest and oldest, has two tiny barred windows. -40- Th �Norm Weis larger jail has a guard room and two cells. One cell is dark, iloree Lu the other has a 3 foot picture window barred with straight ened wagon wheel rims bolted to the logs. The nuts are on the inside, but much to a prisoner’s disappointment, the bolts are peened over. The doors are doubly layered and three inches thick. I V'ben Sheriff Plummer and his two crooked deputies. 'C'otv* Buck Stinson^and ,Ned Ray., were some time in their own jail. Igl- History is a bit unclear at this point, but it is probable that the three crooks were spared the night in jail and were hustled immediately to the gallows at the edge of town. When the sheriff's turn arrived, he begged for his life, but finally settled for one last request, '^^ive me a good drop,'^ said Sheriff Henry Plummer, and the Vigilantes obliged. And the number 3-7-77 mysteriously appeared on several buildings in town. ^olonel Charles A. Broadwater made his first fortune in Bannack in 1862. Later, he invested in other profitable ventures, including mines, stocks and short line railroads. / The Volonel had a dream, and in 1888 he had more --- "fli6u5Q.OCl than the $500W®) it would take to make that dream a fact. He envisioned a large sprawling two=story hotel, a largo covered -41- �ro-STORY OUTHOUSE Norm Weis and a placid lake with boats floating serenely about. It would be a spa the size of a small city, and people from all over the country, perhaps the world, would vacation at ”Broadwater,**^4H / (^Jlis business advisers told him that the population in the area could not possibly support the endeavor. It would be a loser unless the J^olonel could bring a railroad into Helena, Montana. That should be easy, the /olonel figured, for he was a railroad man. ^JTbe complex was finished in 1899, complete with a two-story, two-block long hotel with two tall turrets, and hundreds of rooms. The entire length was fronted with second story balconies. The trim was oak, and the carpets were velvet plush. fatatorium was 100 300 feet, with circular win dows and^Moorish exterior, accessed through a vaulted doorway bracketed by two tall towers, each one topped with a thirty=xfoot A c I lightning rod. Inside, two waterfalls tumbled over rocky pre^ b ^ipices, one offering pure cold water, the other, warm mineral \ water. Steam radiators lined the sides, and potted plants gave atmosphere. Johnny Weismuller learned to swim in that pool, and his later fame would add to BroadwaterVs name, /olonel saw his dream completed, right down to the lake, the He died at the -42- �Norm Weis of fifty-two of influenza, three years af ter'\7America' s most famous health resor6^was completed. The trailt^ovd ■bb -ths s were kind^ for the spa caliea Ca(c}k}C.I Toadwater'^was to suffer many ills in the years that followed. ^_Floods wiped out the lake, the boats, and the trolley in 1925, and an earthquake caused severe damage to the ^otel and plunge in 1935. The plunge was tom down in 1946. { The undamaged portion of the hotel served as a gambling casino for a tim^ ^ther^after lying vacant for a number of years, it was auctioned off piece by piece, a window here, a cupola there, and an entire porch somewhere else. Remnants of its majesty now can be found sprinkled about the country as conversation pieces, playground structures, or front lawn gazebos. �Tlfo=S'^ORY OljjTHOUSE| ' Norm Weis I N G L~l IThe ^^seum at Helena, Montana was rich with in formation concerning old towns and deserted mining camps. The ^seum staff helped me make a list of those places that might have heavy snowfall and be candidates for two-story An old-timer overheard our conversation and outhouses. volunteered that I should check on Castle and Ashland. I added them to my list and revised the balance of my tour of the ^tate. (_My loop to the north of Helena was fruitless. I did, however, stumble upon an interesting example of the local humor. was under construction that would ^rtake a straight line where the old road took an curve �T^-sfoRY Ol/fTHOUSE^^ around a Norm Weis foot=high rocky promontory. The new grade aimed the middle of the promontory. Obviously a deep cut would be required. Some waj no mountain climbing experienc^had painted a broad dashed line from ground to top, then laboriously printed along side, the word \76uT ON DOTTED LINE.V stopped to photograph the scene, but found the light was wrong. My plan to take a shot on the way back was somehow foiled. I have often kicked myself for not camping on :^e spot and taking a photo in morning light. [ The route to Castle in West Central Montana took me through the nearly deserted town of Ringling. The name itself was enough to cause me to stop and inquire, but the two marvelous old churches had me scrambling for the cameras. Of the dozen or so ramshackle buildings in town, only two showed any sign of life the post office and the bar. The door to the bar was fully screened, but was six inches too short, leaving a wide gap at the top. of door and frame as I entered. I studied the mismatch The bartender looked up and said,\ykeeps the dogs and cats outSl^^ was his only customer, which made conversation easy. He knew a lot about the town and told me where to find old-timers thirt could fill in any gaps. �OpTHOUSE Norm Wei When the town moved a few miles to intercept the Milwaukee Railroad, it was called Dorsey.’’"^n 1900, when Mr. I 'thoa-S^LndJ ' Ringling, of circus fame, bougTrfSt^pOO ac res nearby / and hinted that he might make the town his headquarters, the town folk fell in line and renamed the place ^^Ringling. The population in town and the immediate vicinity at that time toppedsouls, many of them homesteaders from Iowa. [_^parently no one realized that a circus was on the road all summer, and would most logically make their winter quarters in some warm place like Sarasota, Florida. The circus did set up at the edge of town, most likely as a 6t -ho sort of dress reh^salj geL'Ljng ready for the summer tour. That happened twice, and each time the town grew a bit, ex pecting something permanent. There was the Ringling Market, with a Sir foot ramp to the second floor dance hall, a cement jail, a huge community hall, and two grand churches. I When the circus folk moved out, the town slowly died. Two fires in the thirties wiped out most of the homes Now the old decrepit bar is the bright spot in town. The sign behind the bar seemS e/ninently appropriate^—‘ \J^ECOMMENDED BY DRUNKEN HEINZ .V Llhe bank was torn down in 1969 because the owner '^^^st felt like it// and was tired of paying taxes on an empty building. �T^^stORY OUTHOUSE Norm Wei ^J^en the town forgot to pay ^ounty taxes on the Community ^all, some'^tranger^ sneaked in, bought the ^all for back taxes, and tried to take over the town. No one objected. (^The old Catholic j!?hurch has lost most of its shingles, right down to bare roofing boards in some places, The two chapels at the front are still used, but the main portion of the church, minus its windows, has become a spacious home for the resident flock of pigeons. l^e Congregational (j!hurch served as a school for a while, but for the past twenty years it has been unused and untended. the bartender knew little about the town of Castle, up the mountain, but he did point me toward an old-timer named Berg in another small town along the way. It was time t to leave ^Sf^naiy -- a second customer had wandered in/ and H the place was getting crowded. ^wald Berg, of Lennepe, Montana, was bom in 1891 in the town of Castle. He was two years old when the town folded, but it has been his hobby to gather infni-mat- ion on the now deserted town. When asked about a twC^story outhouse, he lit up and leaned forward to tell me about it. It was attached to the Castle Hotela catwalk from . second floor to the upper floor of the outhouse. �Norm Weis told of seeing the old hotel register, and jas' taken with the large flowery signatures/^nd the fact that everyone registered for each night in residence. He implied that the outhouses were seldom usedT^ wlt.t^'^he patrons preferrj^ chamber pots, known affectionately as ^<^hundermugsin their bedrooms. The rooms were heated, and the outhouses were not. ^^ologetically, Oswald told me that the out£^ house was gone, and probably the hotel with it. (J_drove on up to Castle, hoping that Oswald might be mistaken about the outhouse. He wasn’t. But the town itself still held an impressive number of old buildings, including an old brothel or two, recognizable by the small cribs made by dividing ordinary upstairs bedrooms. The town had a rather boring history, with only a few high spots to hold the reader's interest. The first silver and lead claims were filed in 1884, the most promising being the Cumberland. The town that sprang up was named for the rocky outcrops that stood like castle towers above the treeline i town reached a population of in the area. Shelby Dillard published '’’^e Whole Truth*^n ‘which he exaggerated the value of the claims, the profits of the mines, and the ebullient quality of the citizenry. �Norm Weis [It was a high^lass town, although it had seven brothels, which were never called by their baser names. of spending profits The Cumberland hauling ore to Helena, built their own smelter, only to find that it cost almost as much to haul charcoal in as it did to haul ore out. The Jawbone Railroad took a lot of talking to get it built)^ reached the outskirts of town in 1891, but k3 frequently suspended operations in the winter heavy drifts over the tracks. smelter exploded in 1892, and a year later the town collapsed when the silver market fell the repeal of the Sherman Act. [rhe population dwindled rapidly, but ^ditor Dillard, apparently believing all the great claims he had printed, hung on until his readership deserted him. finally, only two men remained in town. One winter, with heavy snow limiting their travels, they found themselves short of food. One of th^i^aa managed to walk off the mountain, returning a few days later laden with food, but in a state of exhaustion. His friend welcomed the gro ceries and offered him a cup of coffee. Soon the exhausted man left for his own cabin, a short distance away. He died before reaching it, and the population of the town was now �T^O*sfoS 01 Norm Weis ✓'ctn one. A newspaper in the area cscm the headline, of the Population of Castle Dies in Snowstorm.^/ My travels tbinngh Mi-miiL^-nn to rc^CLiiblb the ■wandp-ritigo o 1n.f- ORf the sites vie-itod} the lueiictoii uf su • ^"uet'eecea uiiiy CTlUyt5 '•CtiWLis that uffeied' unusual -ouLhuiig'gs^ .-.u- ♦-K-i __»- -..u-pu ■ ■__ 1____L uiic uuacr rravc ueeii LUinJuiued' �L^MDastV /^/^D ~*M»CO one euim>ji^i ^he Little Rocky Mountains of ^orth Central Mor tana spawned three mining towns in the 1880*^ and 18902^ Zortman is presently the most active, with about fifty souls, one bar, a cafe, an old jail, and a church. \!^What more would you want,'<!/remarked the bartender. Under slight urging, he continued with the recent highlights of life in Zortman. [2^^ few years ago,'A/the barman related, Xj^ne of the heavier drinkers fell asleep in an old Essex parked outside. His buddies painted all the windows black, and the poor guy^slept three days.W^ -50- �P=sfORY Oi/tHOUSE^S^ Norm Wei VH/hy, just last winter when I was tossing out the late drinkers, fixing on closing up for the night, in comes a bunch of guys lugging a Couldn’t hardly close up with that thing sticking out the door had to M stay open all night .\I/ / The late drinkers formed a tight group. In some ways they reminded me of Charlie RusseHS/s statement about drinkin'^ buddies: If you want to know^man, get him drunk and he'^1 tip his hand. If I like a man when I^ sober, I kin hardly keep from Wssing him when I'^ drunk. ways. when This goes both If I don'^t like a man sober, I don'^t want him in the same town when T^m drunk. (jJust west of Zortman a few miles, are the con siderable remains of the old Ruby Gulch Mine and town. More thanyi^25 million in gold was taken out of the ^ine, and old Swede, the caretaker, and also one of the men who painted the windows of the Essex black, claims that he took .4 million out by himself, but lost it all in the bar. [a massive trestle was required to reach the rich vein that outcropped high on a steep slope. The trestle �Norm Weis curves in to the mill and smelter, then becomes a road that is. in turn, the main street of the small town. ^The ^ine shut down in 1942 and the school closed its doors in 1949, but all the seats, the blackboards, even the ^J^ust outside of town on a sharp curve to the right, there is a sign reading,^0 foot drop to the left -- np cushion.5y^ It looked like some of SweddvXs handiwork ^andusky, a dozen miles or so southwest of Zortman, was a he11=raising sort of a town. It was the home of miners who illegally mined gold in the nearby Indian andusky, for whom the town was named, arrived in the area'in the 188Oj^s in the company of two hard cases on the run. Pike was immediately involved in a brawl with ordinarily friendly Indians. After shooting a squawXJl^y accident,'^ he suffered a gunshot wound to the body and one to the jaw, removing four teeth and part of the jaw bone. The recovery was slow and painful, causing a lifetime rage to set in,.finally causing his death a dozen years later. rothers came to the Little Rockies sometime later as homesteaders, and it wasriVt long before Pike had trouble with them. Pike returned a borrowed plow in a broken condition, claiming it was fractured before he �<T^sfcRY OI/tHOUSE borrowed it. Bad feelings developed, and ,later, when the Curry boys were suspected of rustling, now a lheriff, volunteered to escort them in chains to the near- est judge. On the way, he took the opportunity to get even by beating the boys rather badly. s were found innocent and returned with vengeance in mind. The Curry brother with the baby-face, now called^^id Curry,\/and possessing the hottest temper, led his gang to Jake Harri^^ Saloon in Landusky, looking to have it out with Pike. ^ike was tipping a drj^nk when the Kid slammed him on the back, then planted a fist on Pikd^ bad jaw when he turned. The Kid proceeded to beat Pike to a pulp, while his brothers held the audience at gui^point. Tiring, the Kid stepped back, and Pike, flat on the floor, drew his forty=five. It misfired. Kid Curry shot him dead. I The Kid skipped the country and joined up with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Kid came back in 1966. friends. They claim that the Some say he wanted to visit old Others claim he had money stashed nearby. That same rumor^is voiced in a dozen old towns throughout the dozen olds-timers had told me of a genuine two^»story outhouse in Ashland, Montana. One of them even �Norm Weis f o had a post-card picture^proof . Montana, was on my way home. **f^ last.”^ was gone! Ashland, in Southeastern I was saving the frosting Tom down just a few years before! My disappointment was tempered, however, for there was a marvelous old solid brick outhouse just a block away. It was a small version of the palatial two story brick house that stood in front. Both had fancy cornices, inlaid cross br/ck patterns, and identical roofs. I had often heard of a '■’^ick outhouse^^^^t in somewhat baser terms. I studied it, and indeed, faho»a <naf j|imii^■ i4y iwii .... ; . ? / .... K �ir^sjoRY OI^THOUSE Norm Weis :M'Wwe3oTA'y The difference between an antique and a piece of junk is often a matter of judgement, and our judgement depends upon our age and the age of the item in question. Let those miserable heaps of broken equipment -- tractors, combines. furniture/ and cars.reach an age of we consider them OT SO, and valuable. ^It seems that each generation looks back to an earlier time for reminders of a pleasant past. Il^^s a human trait, I guess, to remember the best and forget the rest. The OLD days, properly aged, become the GOOD OLD days, perhaps that explains my interest in outhouses. In my early years I helped my father build an outhouse behind a cabin on a small lake in ^orthern Minnesota. a particular sort and-we^ finicky about Dad was the design and placement of what he called the ’^athXJ^ He referred to our home^^de cabin as a ^Vwildemess r-- > �T^- S'/orF OI^THOUSE Norm Weis home with five rooms and a path.'v [ The little house had to match the construction of the cabin, right down to the miniature hip roof and log slabs that laced through each other at the corners, like a/ a "tht cfeep (^he outhouse had to open to the _east, and had to be placed so that the door would not face the cabin. The door had to swing in, which seriously limited the space inside, but Dad had his reasons. The lane from cabin to outhouse was nearly straight, with gentle curves to add class. Trees were planted on either side of the door to create a ^!^fetching entrance.'^ (^^nside, we built a multi-sided stool” instead of a simple plank seat. and on the ”stool”^we placed a genuine toilet seat and lid. A vent connected the stool assembly to the outside through an enclosedchutz that led to the roof. A sack of lime took up residence in the comer, with a long^ handled dipper hanging nearby ready to neutralize each deposit. Two small screened windows high on opposiji^ walls provided cross ventilation. The shape of those vents was the topic of family discussion. Moons? Stars? along with the family name of Perhaps an owl cut out to go Weis I have forgotten just what shape was finally used, since the discussion mired dexm when the difficulty of cutting intricate �Tlfo=sfoRY OlfTHOU Norm Weis patterns in the log siding became evident. ^^t’s not likely that my father ever read the little eighteen-page booklet written by Chic Sales/^ntitledj 'C4’he Speclalist.Xj/ This charming little essay, in bound form, sold over a million copies in dozens of countries. It de- tailed the thoughts of a man who specialized in building out houses. Although he makes no mention of the twO^story variety, he does present some very good ideas, most of which my father incorporated in his masterpiece as a matter of common sense. ^_For example, the ^ast facing door let one view the sunrise during the morning^s constitutional where the inward opening door was essential. and that's One could hold the door open with a foot, but quickly shut the door and hold it shut, should another customer arrive. with an out^swinging door. It would be awkward A person could find himself ex posed while leaning out the door, feeling for the handle. (jThe straight path was a matter of efficiency, es pecially for nocturnal use. As Chic put it, ^that ain't no time to be stumbling around on some winding path.X/ [jlhere were five youngsters in our family, and I was right in the middle, age wisj^-^^a spot reserved for the family idea man, often referred to as the black sheep or the hell^aiser. One of my milder ideas was to photograph family -57- �T}&O=S/ORY Oj^THOUSE Norm Weis members going to the outhouse, with a movie camera set on slow speed, then catching their exit on high speed setting. When projected, this showed everyone running to the outhouse ’ and sauntering back, which sort of proved Chic^ concerning the straightness of the path. idea We could have had a curved return path, and it would have been a great idea to run that path the woodpile, so two jobs could be done one trip. Q^he Specialist,'^ I learned many years later, had suggested this ploy, even to placing the woodpile beside the outhouse, claiming that a hired girl would bring in ten loads of kindling in one day more if she was the shy sort. It helped to put a return spring on the door so that the out house always appeared to be occupied. . I The only thing my father neglected/ that'^^he Specialist^J^recommended, was to ^^aint her two color and contrasty, since dark airi^t no time to be scouting around.X/ l^e always carried flashlights at night, but that was primarily to avoid skunks which abounded in the area. especially late in the summer, when garbage pits attracted the little varmints from miles around. ^^ne morning my younger sister, Jessica, returned from a quick visit to the little house out back/^n a rather agitated state. She claimed there were'^unny noises out -58- �T$0=sf0RY OUTHOUSE Norm Weis the re (^y brothers and I offered comfort and explanations. MZf^ow you've got to figure on funny noises in outhouses, Jess. It\^ one of the little entertainments provided by nature Jess huffed and gave us an imitation of the mysterious sound that was between a cough and a snort. \^ha6^4 normal,'^ we told her, and explained that it could be even louder if she altered her diet. When Jess got down to foot^stomping, we figured she was serious, and decided maybe we should have a look. Jess was right, for down in the pit, standing on a small mountain surrounded by a moat, was a very disconsolate skunk sneezing on the lime that covered his head and back, mak ing that strange sound just like Jess had imitated. We could see we had a problem that needed discussing. After long debate, we decided to shoot the skunk and make a I took careful aim while quick getaway in case of gas attack. holding the lid up with one hand and the door open with a foot. Jess stood in the doorway with the lime sack. dumped the lin^and ran out the door. I shot, Jess I dropped the lid, slammed the door and ran for cover. ^here wasn'^t a bit of stink. Word of my success spread along cabin row, and my services were sought out. I dis patched dozens of skunks from garbage pits and crawl spaces. fame spread throughout the county. I considered it a public My �Norm Wei ervice/ since some of the skunks were suspected of being rabid, ^J^en a store owner in the nearby town of Park Rapids asked me to take care of a skunk trapped in his window well, I quickly accepted the challenge, proud to demonstrate my talents. I promised the owner an odorless solution. I asked for a shovel, dug a hole out in the alley in which to bury the skunk, then placed the shovel handy in the window well. My client was impressed. I took careful aim at the spot that experience had shown would result in an instan taneous, no smell demise. A careful squeeze, and bang! The job was done, except that the ^ead^ skunkVs tail slowly rose, and he sprayed and sprayed and stunk and stunk! The proprietor gave me a dirty look that plainly reduced me to amateur status. I buried the skunk, and left the shovel too, buried to the handle, hoping my reputation might recover as the smell wore out and his customers returned. weeks. The smell was gone in two My reputation was gone forever. ^n uncle of mine used to brag of tipping ten crappers over during one Halloween night. My uncle, and most other folk, liked to use the term“^rapper^^but I always considered it a ctnc word with a blue tinge, ^acceptable in polite conversation. Such is not really the case. ^^_^ir Thomas Crapper was the inventor of a revolutionary valve that permitted a permanently installed bed^ot to allow its holdings to be washed down a sewer pipe. -60- His valve involved �T^o=sfo^ oiJthouse Norm Weis <5TIaJC a trap, or "S’? curve in the bowl to prevent odors from backing up the pipe, and another valve to shut the flow of flush water, and permit a refill of an overhead tank. called '^rappers These toilets were and it was as nice a word as'^an Dyke,'^ meaning a beard. ^ut '^c rapper^ had a naughty ring to it, and soon one of other variations of the word became common. those rare words that got smutty with use. Most words take on a milder everjT^day application with the passage of time. A word that would curl your hair forty years ago is now commonly on the tongue of the young and innocent. When the crapper came into common use, many older homes and hotels retrofitted their facilities. Usually an upstairs room was selected, and part of the floor elevated to allow room for the plumbing to be placed under the stool. This was much easier than tearing up the ceiling of the room below. That platform gave rise to the term ^throne,Xl/and the room became the\%hrone room,\y^a noble place to situate a crapper. -61- �Norm Weis. C dJL'cJEA DO Some of my best tips on two story outhouses came from skiers. It made sense. Where there was heavy snow, there should also be tall back houses. Several friends had suggested I visit Crested Butte, Colorado, insisting that a number of unusual outhouses were still in use in the town proper. The nearby ski resort was quite modem, but the re tired coal miners still living in Crested Butte still held to their old value^—^^uthouses included, according to on my helpful friends. ^^had high hopes of success as I drove south in- to the neighboring State of Colorado. My map study of the ^tate indicated a number of possibilities. Caribou, at an elevation of 9,905 feet^must certainly have had enough snow to spawn a double'^decker. Crested Butte had to be investi- gated, as did Lake City, where a strange case -62- �Tj^S'f’ORY OUTHOUSE 'Norm Wei of cannibalism had occurred. And there were other towns with lesser reputations worth a look, like Pearl, Colorado, just across the Wyoming border. resident remained in the little\>^host towAv^ of Pearl, the daughter of one of the earliest settlers, Nina wasn’t given to exaggeration, by the name of Nina Rhea. being more inclined to tell it the way it was. Het father. Cooke, was the leading hunting guide in the area spanning the times that Pearl grew and died. He was always suspicious of the mining that was supposedly done near town, considering it mo and blue=sk*5^ not much ore,being moved. A ^ina told of a money changs® pockets, aod to fancy steam engine that was hauled to one of the mines by a sixteenxhorse team, and how stock in the place rose abruptly, wheelsaid Nina. X/fiut the engine never tuned a ''yPearl was a boom-town that never even popped Supposedly copper, silver and gold were mined from the Zirkle and Wolverine Mines, and indeed, in 1900, prospects folk sprang up. looked so good that a town of There were two saloons, three hotels, and forty or so hoWes, but no tall outhouses. names of various creeks and mountains in the area carried the humorous stamp of old Cooke Rhea. -63- When a �Ty^=s;foRY Norm Weis ■r government cartographer asked Cooke the name of a certain creek, he ireplied, VDamfino,X/and so it was'<5<)amfino Creek'’^ officially. Whiskey Mountain was the name he gave to a nearby peak for its abundance of empty booze bottles left by a wealthy English hunter. And a creek of indefinite source became V^Conundrum Creek,a name certain to puzzle -—the greenhorn. �cJo ~ road to Caribou was steep, and three miles short of town the wind began to blow. By the time I reached 9,900 feet, the breeze had become a gale. The vehicle rocked and the trees whipped like grain. The old wooden buildings of town had taken on a list, and any tree with guts enough to grow in the open had a built-in lean. Rock wall remains of the old hotels were still vertical, but badly blasted by windbome sand and gravel. If any two-story outhouses had ever existed, they would have long since been battered and probably blown away. (_It was a hostile place, and no one in his right mind would live there, unless, that is, he had a heavy in terest in a mine that pumped out ore rich in silver. [Conger found the outcrop in 1869. With a partner named Martin, he explored the vein, and turned up ore that quickly attracted ^86 people to the little town. They named It ’carlbou,*^^or the big game ^probably elk^ that could be harvested nearby. -64- �(t^=S'/0RY Olfej Norm Weis ^eavy snows with the high winds caused such a hazard that school was held only in spring, summer, and fall. There was a three^month winter vacation. five foot drifts were common. Twenty= Miners returning from a short visit down the hill sometimes had to probe for their cabins with long cane poles. Hotel residents entered and exited through second floor windows. (in the summer there was lightning. Vicious bolts that slammed into th® town seeking the heavy iron deposits that rested just beneath the surface. (But it was a moral town. In 1881, the whores and gamblers were voted out of town, and Cardinal, the next town down the mountain, inherited them. [Two bad fires removed many of the wooden struc'tures of Caribou, and epidemics of diptheria and scarlet fever decimated the populations. in 1944. The last resident died �I <2-P Qa^tlaau.^ [Two hundred miles wes^/^at an altitude of 8,885 feet, lie the town and adjacent ski area of Crested Butte. S It is a place of contras^, town, retired coalminers live on minimal funds, wniie the slopes, ski buffs dine on gourmet food. Lear jets wheel overhead. while oldstimers tread the boardwalks. A 0^ Tired skiers loll in hot tubs at the ^is^resort, but in town �TwO=STORY OUTHOUSE Norm Weis most homes lack sewer systems. Below the ski slope, an astronaut has built a fancy cabin with all the conveniences, while in town, a two^story outhouse is still in use at the Masonic ^all. ^_^fter I had a good look at the Masonic ^all masterpiece, I wandered leisurely about town, looking for other examples of early plumbing, The town hall, a beauti- ful structure from the front, had .a two^story outhouse attached to the bac^^—nearby , an old two=story saloon with twelve^foot ceilings, had a most unusual three-way outhouse accessible from the upper floor, main floor, and ground level. (Numerous houses had covered walkways leading from warm kitchens to cold outhouses -- far enough to prevent a H mix of odors, yet freely accessed in spite of heavy snows. ^ight or nine feet of snow on the level was common in Crested Butte, and one record year it exceeded twenty feet. Avalanches were common on the slopes above town, one wiping out the boarding house, superintendent’s house, and two sheds of an active coal mine. Several died, but one man rode the avalanche all the way down unharmed. (The Elk Mountain House, an early way station. had the ultimate outhouse. It is no longer standing, but -66- �fO^sfoRY OUTHOUSE Norm Weis the memory of the building is fresh in the minds of the longs: term residents. Each of the three floors had walkways lead ing to outhouses that dropped into a common pit. The seat of the upper outhouse was sixteen feet above ground level, and the pit was twelve feet deep for a clear ^and no doubt noisy^ drop of twenty—eight feetlX' Each outhouse also had storage space for stove wood, so that customers could do two jobs at once. The designer must have read'^he '**S^c list^by Chic Sales. (^The many covered walkways from house to outhouse fascinated me. I found one that seemed to be deserted. There was no paint on the house, the curtains were tattered, and the lawn untended. I entered an open doorway at the house end of the walkway and sauntered the dim length of the tunnel- like outhouse access. The outhouse was surprisingly clean, and still had a partial roll of paper standing by the seat. I returned to the house, considered trying the door, then decided in favor of photographing the exterior. ^On the third exposure, a shadow fell over the lens. I looked up, then looked up quite a bit higher to see a giant of a man glaring down at me with great hostility. He said '^ah/^/^nd walked into me, bumping me back while I racked my memory for a Swedish word or two. I tried "•*^nya tussen tuckwhich is Norsky for thanks much. He stopped, 4vo(vi 7 f �Norm Wei apparently unwilling to take advantage of a foreigner. I left quickly, thankful that I hadn't tried the back door of the house I had foolishly assumed deserted. (jThe town was presently being invaded by large numbers of free-living young people. late generation hippies. over this incursion. They might be called The town folk were split badly The young folk were moving into old buildings, occupying old mines, and were a general nuisance to most merchants, except those found they could make a buck off the newcomers. ^igns proclaiming '^o Shoes, No Shirts, No Service^were everywhere. And so were the dogs. It seemed that every newcomer had at least two dogs. One old=timer, A ’ when asked his opinion of hippies, said simply, VJt^ogs, dirt, town was polarized and the marshall could not please both groups. One of the towiiys two newspapers complained of -fen the new leash law; the other claimed the dog tags should be priced When criticized, he quit. hif^er. One irate woman said she would give any dog coming into her backyard a dose of buckshot and another to the doowner, given the chance. stock A local rancher claimed he was shooting two dogs a day to protect the �■fte old t-owCT of ^Crested Butte didn% deserve such controversy. It had always been a quiet place tucked away in the mountains, existing only to serve the mining industry. Originally it was a gold camp. Soon a smelter was built, and coal deposits were found nearby to fuel the smelter. The gold petered out, but the coal seams were thick, and soon the gold camp became a coal town. By 1880 there were 250 people in town, and two years later, the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company took over the mining operation, developing three anthracite and three bituminous mines. /a huge blast in the Jokerville Mine shaft killed fifty-eight miners in 1884, shortly after new^^safety venti lators^ had been installed. The Jokerville closed down, but remaining mines continued to serve the Fuel and Iron Company and the Denver and Rio Grande Railway until 1952, when the railroad switched to diesel“powered locomotives. (JThe population dropped abruptly; vR-th many cofl^miners retir^^^ on the spot. The town began to look like a ghost town " old, unpainted, ramshackle. [ But then the ski craze hit Colorado, and Crested Butte was one of the first sites selected by developers. The new business w^ welcome, and the town began to perk up and Thence long-haired element arrived, and threw the6L ' into controversy that only time UJi/f heal. 4 clean up. �Norm Weis a fascinating place to visit. -litriguing. feet up The Old gentlemen prop their pot-bellied stoves, while nearby, long-haired young folk speak of the advantages of singing to one'^ self and the therapy of X^hollering under your breath stopped by for one last visit to the two=story outhouse behind the Masonic ^all. It looked like it was built by a committee, with roof lines at odd angles, and a second floor door with no stairway. I took photos from all angles, finding that no single view could reveal its true function. (in the upper portion of the twoxstory outhouse there was a sigi]^-^'**^THING OVER EIGHT POUNDS MUST BE LOWERED BY ROPE.'**"'^^ ^/^lushed with success, I set out for a site that held little promise of tall outhouses, but promised a unique tale �LAre ci'ry southwestern Colorado,') a few miles north of the Slum^ullion Mud Slide. It’s a modest town of several hundred year-round QjT bootvi-S residents^ LliSt hnwc ^ach summer^with trout fishermen and each winter with snowmobilers. The town grew aly^ut a few gold and silver mines in 1874, but one year earlier, an event cjccuk/ccI that put Lake City on the map/before it/evan^existed. 7 �^_Alfred Packer was serving a sentence in a Salt:. Lake City jail on a charge of counterfeiting. He had voiced his knowledge of prospecting, and offered his services as guide to a number of Word got around, and soon five men pooled a kitty and bailed him out with the under standing that Packer would guide them into the Ouray area. It would cost the five men their lives, but they would become famous in the process. / Israel Swan, George Noon, Frank Miller, James n? / X — Humpha^^i®*, and Wilson Bell, led by Alfred Packer, wandered through what is now southwestern Colorado, looking for gold. In January, they visited Chief Ouray, a friendly Ute, who advised them not to head east. Snow deep, and traveling would be treacherous, but their intrepid guide^illf<?i' Packer was sure they could make it. ^n April, 4iS^^Packer showed up at an Indian ^ency seventy-five miles away. He told of losing contact with his charges in a blizzard, and nearly starving to death in the process of finding his way back to civilization. He bought drinks with money from several wallets. I / Hre looked suspiciously well-fed for a man who claimed to have been short of food. and backtracked his trail. The Indians were They found strips of flesh beside his tracks -- flesh that bore little resemblance �Cr^^SyORY O/^THOUSE^r^ Norm Weis -to wild game. Shortly, prospectors reported finding the bodies of five men,/with fractured skulls and great quan titles of flesh stripped from their bones. A search was mounted, but Packer had left the country. ^ine years later. Packer was apprehended in Wyoming. He had lived quite a normal life -- even served on the bench in Montana for a time. Lake City for trial. He was hustled to Lake City by this time had become ■FiOC, ( T'dg a bustling town of almost j and all^^^^S&O^ were anxious to see justice done to Colorado'^ only cannibal. ''id^rni {packer was tried for canr^balism and murder. He was found guilty and sentenced to hang by the neck until dead. The judge's exact words are lost in the legend that grew about the case, but they were no doubt similar to the many renditions, some poetic, that have sur vived. A poem by Stella Pavich states that the judge claimed 'Vlhere were seven democrats in the county, and you, you voracious son-of =a=bitch, you A^^®i^acker five of themlV^ claimed that Wilson Bell had killed the others after they had all lost their way and run out of food. He had no choice, he explained, and when Bell tried to kill and eat him, he only reacted in self=defense. A This argument brought him a new trial. He was found innocent and released, to become a recluse until his death in 1907. �T^S'/ORY O^THOUSE^7 Q Norm Weis [just south of Lake City, near Slumgullion Slide, at an elevation of 11,400 feet, there is a fenced-in grave^ site, and a plaque **cocmemorating’’^^the event. / (L> / At the University of Colorado, Boulder, students voted on a new nane for the grill in their Memorial Union building. With great humor. and by a large majority, they elected to call it the^J \i/alfred e. packer grill.xz' Of course, the sign over the door, either by mistake or by design, spells Packez^^s first name, ^i^ferd^ thus piling more confusion on a SB story already overloaded with discrepancies �ORY OUTHOUSE Norm Weis {\J —------ -Losr -------- The route to the Black Hills passed close to several old Wyoming tovTns -th^^ I had always wanted to visit. None of them held great stories, but each had some sma11 claim to fame. , ^^ost Springs, aboutmiles east of Casper, has been nearly deserted for dozens of years. varies between two and seven. The population The country store still operates, catering to ranch folk in the area. The brick bank that occupied one comer of the only intersection in town has become famous throughout the ^tate. People would drive miles out of their way to be served through the teller’s window and observe the vault being used for liquor storage pj- sort of a secure back bar. (rhe deserted gym, at what is now called the Town Hall, was a classic. The ceilings were just slightly higher �<:^T^==S'j0RY O0THOUSe£^ Norm Weis •han the rims on the bang^boards/ and hanging lights limited the clearance even more. The lights were of the pressurized gas and mantle varietj^similar to Coleman lanterns. Basket^ bailers at Lost Springs were noted for their line drive shots, and the strange dodge to the side before shooting, in order to clear the chandeliers. An old story told of another small town basketball player not so far away would be appropriate to Lost Springs, since they played outside whenever possible, hlgher^ei 1 ings After winning a tournament in a fancy big city gym, the ace player of the team was being interviewed and was asked how he explained his phenomenal percentage of shots from beyond the free throw circle. He replied, VJ^ell, heck, there ain’t no wind in hereX/ / About thirty miles to the south of Lost Springs lies the long deserted company town of Sunrise, -So named be- cause the sun rose late each morning the east. the tall hills to Like many things, ^unrise seemed more precious the longer one had to wait for it. ^Copper was mined here first, but the veins ran out just as deposits of high grade iron ore ’^hematitejp were Shortly after the turn of the century, the (^600 Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation was taking'SSShfS&O Lons discovered. per year out of the open pit mines. The iron ore, and the coal mined at Crested Butte, were mated in Pueblo, Colorado, structural atpeWinn.. the rpsiilifc— -75- �Norm Weis Z '' 1941, open pit mining was suspended in favor subsidence mining, where the lode is removed at the bottom I and the overburden permitted to collapse downward. mining was suspended and most of the residents moved to other towns to take other jobs. As a company policy, many of the buildings have been burned to eliminate liability problems and tax assessments. / That means the long sixty-five car garage will soon go. More than^©- feet long so long it has to bend to match the curve of the road fronting it -- it is truly one building under one long, leaky roof. garage in the world. Ripley called it the longest Even more unusual is its location in Wyoming, one of the least populated states in the Union. Just north of Newcastle, at the eastern border of Vtyoming, the remains of a large, long-deserted coal town are 4 sprinkled along a narrow carbon-stained valley. It was named Cambria and it was quite a going concern. But now there is hardly enough left to make a picture. wanted to visit the town and its suburb just west on the high flats, for an odd reason. The suburb was called Antelope City, and they had a baseball team named the ViNeversweats I had always thought that gamesmanship was a recent innovation, but the name'^I’^Jeversweats'^ won^^ indicat^ that the coal-miners of 1900 knew all about it. <- -76- �ST^ORY OUTHOUSE Norm Weis With a name like V/f^eversweats ,\I/ the opposition is intimidated even before the game starts without working up a sweat. / a/aric'ecJ ^f> L_had you ahearen tee sweat! and even if you lose, you lost Think what you could have done �C_ 1 co6> llLACiC /^/?Ez» ^^etailed maps of the Black Hills area revealed '' /a number of small towns worth looking into. Some were well / known, like Keystone and Rockford, others seemed to /juf, known even to the natives. ^Cascade Springs is a most unusual place. Only ten miles south of Hot Springs on what was once a main high way, it now stands completely deserted. Four buildings still remain on what was once the main thoroughfare. On the north side, a^T^^ld/beautifthree-story rock hotel standstall brush. On the south side of the road, all in a row, are the two-story ^io/7^ bank, the brick Fargo Office, and a ramshackle old wooden building leaning against a prop. And built on to the back of that building is a bowling alley! A bowling alley in a ghost town! haps I have lived too long/ Per The town dates from 1888, when a promoter named Allen heard that a railroad was to pass by his favorite spring. He gathered investors and built a small version of the hot springs spas to the north. But alas, the rail- road bypassed Cascade Springs, gracing the town of Edgemont instead. �Norm Weis ^_A^the extreme wes^y edge of the Black Hills, < amid dense stands of tall pines, lies a relatively modem \^arpape:^v^ghost town called Tinton. Traveling west from Lead, South Dakota, following a topographic map, I was sur prised at the lack of any kind of road signs at the many dirt road intersections. I stopped at a cabin to check my route. and was informed that Tinton was yet a dozen miles away, and was indeed deserted, but had lately become the hangout for a full grown mountain lion. an old mine shack appeared, then a head frame house clinging to a hillside above a small lake. A badly bent sign held the log^^-'-^'^^ansteele Met^urgical Co.\/ Shortly, I passed by the edge of town, but continued to explore the buildings beyond. Two ball mills stood with flapping rusted metal sheeting. vertical beam. One had stamped in a There was a sign on another mine building— 'Dakota Tin and Gold Co and the number ^8^1939 which I assumed meant that August, 1939 was the date of construction. Back in town, I noticed an old deserted car of unfamiliar contour. a DeSoto, causing tion. The name plate showed it to speculate on the date of its deser It probably gave up the ghost some two dozen years ear//er, putting the lif^ of Tinton somewhere in the vicinity of 1939 to 1950. -78- �T^0-S2?0RY OUTHOUSE Norm Wei I followed the two - lane roadAtfaat wanderjrf buildings standing in good order p-the through -aaWl and surprisingly intact. Most of the residences were covered with red tarpaper, but underneath they were much more sub stantial than mere shacks. The large community hall was of standard wood construction, but many of its windows were broken out, boarded over, or replaced with chicken wire. In one place, the wire had been breached, and I crawled though. It was one big room, with a stage at one end, and a ban^oard made from an old bam door. In the comer was a pile of news3 papers, twigs and old clothing. Then I remembered the warning about the mountain mouse nest. lion. It looked like a king-size With all deliberate haste I returned to the opening in the window. The sudden screech that accelerated my passage through the chicken wire turned out to be a metal sign blowing against a steel post! 1 There were tracks, however -- big pug marks that I traced and later identified as those of a puma, or mountain lion. I nosed about the remainder of the town with great care, peering into each building before entering. Nine of the residences were identical, indicating that this was pro bably a company town. Several more imposing homes no doubt went to the owners and bosses. ^There were more pug marks around the little white schoolhouse. I settled for a photo of the exterior. -79t �sa means ^^eautifuh^ little town at the eastern edge of the Black Hills is indeed that. At one time more than a thousand folk lived in the quiet tree-shaded town. Now there had to be a party to one hundred. I^Once called the Battle River Stage later became a rough-and-tumble gambling town, Station During its C wilder period, it is reported that a foreigner with ^larly annoying personality frequently visited the local bar. After one long evening of suffering under the manVs constant bragging, the locals plotted a rebuttal. I The next morning, the pestiferous one stepped out of his boarding house and walked to the outhouse. With care, loyal residents of Hermosa estimated the time it would take the man to declothe and settle into position. Then, CL a lariat was thrown around the outhouse and tied to the pommel of a With a whoop, the horse took off. He was t^Aveling full tilt when the slack took up and jerked the outhouse clean off its underpinnings, leaving one surprised foreigner caught with his pants down. ^ochford, buried deep in the middle of the Black Hills, is typical of matafcsasHfefae old towns that suddenly grew around precious metal deposits wban the area was y^^^opei^d to the whitman. 80 �Norm Weis Anna D. Tailant journeyed to the Black Hills in 1874 with a party of thirty men, when it was still ites pass on the sacred Indian land. They built a stockade and prospected until the ^rmy kicked themz— out Anna returned in 1877 and helped establish■the little town of Rochford. She was schoolteacher and post- mistress until the town faded, less than ten years later. I Although there are no fascinating outhouses, i’t there are a number of classic^ worth a visit. The old jail. low-ceilinged and windowless, remains as originally built. lined with quarter^inch steel plate. A number of boardwalks front buildings on Main Street, some with trap doors leading to basements under th«e stores and shops. The Standby Mine and Mill stands by at the east edge of town, an imposing structure of uncertain strength. as it weathers. It gathers character �lle few miles to the south, next to the old Alta l.odi Mine, stand the remains of the little town of Myersville, sometimes called Myers City. The town is of little note, and would not be mentioned here if I hadn'^t stumbled upon a fascinating old book in the attic of e’zt 3 h6rne> It was .titled; — /> I EVERYBODY^'/S GUIDE; ox THINGS WORTH KNOWING by: R. Moore �THOUSE and was &opywrited in New York in 1884. Norm Weis I spent the entire afternoon reading that book, amazed at what was known in 1884, and even more amazed at what was claimed to be fact concerning r//// not: u>A. ^The book starts with recipes, including a dandy for a bread claimed to cure indigestion; PE PS IA BREAD.-*- The following receipt for making bread has proved nighly salutary to persons afflicted with dyspepsia, vis;-j^3 quarts unbolted wheat meal; 1 quart soft water, warm but not hot; 1 gill of fresh yeaS"^; 1 gill molasses, or not, as may suit the taste; 1 teaspoonful of saleratus.”—*— ---------- In the farmer^ receipts chapter, this little g save a favorite horse: TO CURE BROKEN LEGS.77-Instead of summarily shooting the horse, in the greyer number of fSctures it is only nece of a broad piece of sail, or other strong cloth placed under the animal’s belly, furnished with 2 breechings and 2 breast girths, and by means of ropes and pulleys attached to a cross beam above, he is elevated, or lowered, as may be required. By the adoption of this plan every facility is allowed for -There was much more, including a method of curing a balky horse by spinning him about, and a method of doubling the quantity of manure from a given animal! ~/ln the 2^edical Apartment, we have: '^LES FOR ACTION, VERY SHORT BUT VERY SAFE. In health and disease endeavor always to live on the sunny ---- side. Sir James Wylie, late physician to the EmpCror of Russia, remarked during long observation in the hospitals of that country, that the cases of death occurring in rooms averted from the light of the sun, were four times more numerous than the fatal cases 7 �C^T^S^ORY O0THOUSE^ in the rooms exposed to the direct action of the solar rays. When poison is swallowed, a good off-hand remedy is to mix salt and mustard, 1 heaped teaspoonful of each, in a glass of water and drink immediately. It is quick in its operation. Then give the whites of 2 eggs in a cup of coffee, or the eggs alone if coffee cannot be had. For acid poisons give acids. In cases of opium poisoning, give strong coffee and keep moving. For light burns or scalds, dip the part in cold water or in flour, if the skin is destroyed, cover with varnish. If you fall into the water, float on the back, with the nose and mouth project ing. For apoplexy, raise the head and body; for fainting, lay the person flat. Suck poisoned wounds, unless your mouth is sore. Enlarge the wound, or better cut out the part without delay, cauterize it with caustic, the end of a vein is cut, compress below. If choked, get upon all fours and cough. Before passing through smoke take a full breath, stoop low, then go ahead; but if you fear carbonic acid gas, walk erect and be careS ful. Smother a fire with blankets or carpets; water tends to spread burning oil and increase the danger. Remove dust from the eyes by dashing water into them, and avoid rubbing. Remove cinders, with a softj smooth wooden point. Preserve health and avoid catch ing^ cold by regular diet, healthy food and cleanliness. ^CURE FOR DRUNKENNESS.yi-U^rranted a certain Remedy. Confine the patient to nis room, furnish him with his favorite liquor of discretion, diluted with 2/3 of water, as much wine, beer, coffee and tea as he desires^ but containing 1/8 of .spirit; all the food-^the bread, meat and vegetables steeped in spirit anci water. On the fifth day of this treat ment he has an extreme disgust for spirit, being continually drunk. Keep up this treatment till he no longer desires to eat or drink, and the cure is certain. ^URE FOR LOCK JAW, SAID TO BE POSITIVE-jj-Let any one who has an attack of lock jaw take a sma^ll all quantity of ^irits of turpentine, warm it, and pour it on the wound no matter where the wound is, or what its nature is and relief will follow in less than one minute. Turpentine is also a sovereign remedy /d /O0S �O^HOUSE^ for croup. Saturate a piece of flannel with it, and place the flannel on the throat and chestj^and in very severe cases three to five drops on a lump of sugar may be taken internally.” ~ ------ And fcfej dandy cure that -io po Retails on the method of unstated. T-fcg Qotiian. s are Obviously one must follow the goose about with an empty tin and wait for a propitious moment. CERTAIN CURE FOR CROUP.^Goose oil and urine equal parts. Dose 1 teaspoonful. A certain cure if taken £aTso, _t^s about speech impediments and sleep: Stammering.-jjjimpediments in the speech may be cured, where there is no malformation of the organs of arti culation, by p^^everance, for three or four months, in the simple remedy of reading aloud, with the teeth closed, for at least 2 hours each day.”— ^^^^^cessary Rules FOR SLEEP, There is no fact more clearly established in the ^ysiology of man than this, that the brain expends its energies and it self during the hours of wakefulness and that these are recuperated during sleep. If the recuperation does not equal the expenditure, the brain withers; this is insanity.... .**•—— .n the ^hapter on Mjseful Hints to Grocers CHEAP VINEGAR.-^Mix 25 gals, of warm rain water, with 4 gal., molasses and 1 gal. yeast, and let it ferment; you will soon have the best of vine gar; keep adding these articles in these propor tions as the stock is sold.**— *^HERKINS.--Take small cucumbers 4not young)^ steep for a week in very strong brine; it is then poured off, heated to the boiling point and again pour on the fruit. The next day the // �fO^sfoRY O^HOUSE Norm Weis ■gherkins are strained on a sieve, wiped dry, put into bottles or jars, with some spice, gin^^>7 pepper, or cayenne, and at once covered with strong [we are also told hofo* to make butter and place it in a tub or firkin. It occurred to me that if one stores his pickles in a butter tub, he would have a firkin of gherkins! ^here w^s more, a great deal mor^in that book. Hints oh curing damp walls, keeping meat fresh by soaking in buttermilk, how to stain glass, sharpen saws, lay rock, make paint, and repair watches. a better man for having read it! �Norm Weis p£xi''f' V/ "Tessas Pat Day used to be a good and trusted friend, right Up until he gave me the champion of all bum steers. ^^t frequently drove from Midland, Texas to Casper, Wyoming as a representative of an explosives firm. , On each trip, he drove past a strange old building that he felt certain was a genuine two=^story outhouse. His cer tainty was no doubt colored by his desire to have my wife and me visit his family in brand new home. A few years ago, shortly after Christmas, we weakened, and set out by car for the vast wasteland called Texas. It took two days,/ and W^^iles of driving to reach Dalhart, Texas, near the site of the oft-mentioned two-story outhouse. -rd- �Norm Weis to the right amid a solid blanket of foot-deep snow. A small staircase led to a substandard size^/^^oor. My hopes evaporated as I stooped to enter. The place was bare except for a shoulder-high rectangular opening and a sheet of one-eighth-inch=thick steel against one wall. Pat Day’s two=-story outhouse was an old deserted skeet house! jcourse I photographed it, figuring on using it as ammunition to tone down Patrick should he wax too eloquently in the future. He was properly embarrassed, apologetic, and full of southern hospitality during our brief stay with the Day family. ^n an attempt to salvage the effort of traveling the considerable distance, we traveled on to the Big Bend ^untry of Texas, in search of a bit of history perhaps an interesting outhouse or two. ^Eighty miles or so east of Presidio, near on the small settlement of Lajitas, the edge of a relatively flat plain, stand the remains of the adobe and tin town of Terlingua. Some history buffs claim means three forks;^ —‘Others lean toward'^hree languages^?feng 1 ish7~SpQi^ ish, and probably a local Indian tongu^. �Norm Weis Til'IiltfXy Indians^ found a strange orange rock that turned almost red when moistened, and occasionally.^sasfe' dripped a silvery liquid. It was considered of little value until 1884, when Juan Acosta had it assayed and found it was a very high grade mercury ore called cinnabar. / A number of small operations started up, but remained relatively unimportant until Howard E. Perry entered the picture. Start. Perry was greatly disliked from the He paid workers $14.50 per week, deducted $12.50 prT'^^^k for store accounts and medical expenses. Jltercury vapor, present in huge quantities from the roasting of cinnabar, was breathed freely, causing heavy salivation and loss of teeth. would be learned that it also caused Fifty years later it brain damage, particularly in the young. I^rry built a company town, then rented homes, store space, and even the school to the citizens of Ter lingua. Of the seventy-five adobe buildings, the store brought the best fe^jJthe school c^MMAg in second at per year. l_ln 1906 he built a mansion in Terlingua, and lived the life of a king. he ran with a heavy hand. -fiUe King of the mercury mines which During the 1920’^his production -fUouScod peaked at 5^000 flasks a year at $4(7-QO a flas^ but his kingdom evaporated in 1944 when his tax problems and —-> �Norm Weis bookkeeping irregularities caught up with him. He died dur ing his trial that year, and the various mines and buildings in town were auctioned off at a bankruptcy sale. ^o Texans, Terlingua might look quite ordinary, but adobe schools, adobe houses, and especially adobe outC houses fascinated me. The one near the school was a classic, with double^stall sections each for boys and for girls. [Mine No. 245, a few miles east of Terlingua, held a number of old buildings with two-=-foot-thick r<?c^ £da.fls /I K J f: ana a head frame shaft. stoodJ over a deep, unprotected A rocl^Adropped from the top, bottomed in eight seconds, indicating a depth of nearly ^J^he Rio Grande Swi^r'^ound feet. serpentine course a scant twenty miles to the south. It was surprisingly narrow, shallow, and easily waded. We saw no indication of massive immigration. in spite of the total lack of fences or warning signs. Two mule pack trains approached us from the Mexican side, then detoured at the sight of our cameras, giving us pause to think, and to click with care. ^{_Oyer eggs ranchero the next morning, I read in the paper of Senator Proxmire's latest Golden Fleece Award. The United States Department of Energy received ue. do y distinction for spending to build a du outhouse with a southern exposure. dubious It was designed, the 'om �Norm Weis department said, '^to put you in the mood for meditation^/ and in proper '^govemmenteze/^it was officially described as an\?^bove Ground Aerobic and Solar Assisted Composting ToiletX/ Of the 257 proposals, this was the winner! 6 �ro*! , Norm Weis VI ------ -Some years ago, I made a old ^otel ^ar in Oatman, Arizona, fooj of myself in the The place was full of signs designed to amuse the reader or to embarrass the unwary. One sigr^^^?^eading \^or Sale Cheap, One Henway looked a bit fishy, so I sipped my beer and waited. Finally another outsider weakened and asked,'^What’s a Henwayand the bar£ tender replied, ^J^bout two pounds. ^^eeling smug, I inquired about another sign that said VAsR about a free ring.Xj/ Next to the sign was a box of rings. The bartender asked if I wanted a free ring, and I replied in the affirmative, only to have him reach over and yank a loud bell, advertising the baptism of yet another greenhorn! |_^0n that same trip, I had noted a large photograph of a twocLStory outhouse, and now that such structures had '—* �Norm Weis become my speciality, another trip to the old town of Oat- And while I was in the area, there were some other sites in Arizona and Nevada that might prove interesting. In 1918, Oatman had dozens of active mines, and a population neat~133fflSr The Americana Mine became the largest producer of gold and silver, and when it shut down in 1942, disaster struck the little town. Americana tore the. down its mill, its hotel,^Honolulu Club, and dance hall. [ Anna Eder, who owned much of the remaining town, could no longer find prospectors willing to go shares for a Her stores went unrented, and her whorehouses grubstrake. were in little demand. She died penniless. y 1 [ Now the town has few year-^ound residents, and caters to tourists, especially in the winter. with a flair. But this is a town One store claims it isS^X)^^ S|5n H / A cafe advertises 'CRagged Ass. Miners Steakwith the period after the '^as^'^ making it perfectly clear that it is an association rather than a portion of the anatomy. Wild burros enter town each afternoon. One year^ round resident claimed the number of burros rivals the population at times, then added, '^up, the jackasses pert near out-_^ number the jackassesXX �OjfrHOUSE^^ Norm Weis /The burros are relatively tame, inclined only to fingers when the handouts slacken, or to Imperil life and limb during the not infrequent fights. BlaclQ?ack and Whitey are in a constant battle for herd leadership, and frequently scatter tourists right and left as one chases the other down Main Street and off into the hills. On one such occasion. Blackjack wandered back with a cut under one eye, and half an hour later. Whitey sneaked in from the other direction, with a chunk taken out of his rump. [rhe photograph of the : two-story outhouse was still hanging in the old hotel. its frame to see side. I studied it, even removed it from a location mighu bt written on the flip The owner of the building had no idea where the outhouse might have been built, or even where the photograph had come from. There was nothing to do but buy a sack of popcorn and feed the burros and think about traveling on. �+ V u rJE'\/AOz^ Cold l^old Point, population eight, stands on a slight rise surrounded by dusty flats in ^outh ^entral Nevada. Once a silver mining community, it now sees only the odd visitor. j By the old gas station, a sign reads 'filtered Gasoleneand behind one residence was an outhouse that made the trip worthwhile. At first it seemed to be made of con crete blocks, but on close approach, these blocks turned out to be empty explosive boxes that once held dynamite. Quite �T^O-S'^'ORY ofaHOUS^ Norm Weis appropriate, I thought, and so did the operator of a nearby country store. He told me the old story, with new gestures, about the returning serviceman came back to his small town with a pocketful^^of back pay and a few souvenirs, like a live hand grenade or two. He was determined to rid the old home of the unsightly outhouse, but failed to realize grampa was in the outhouse when he pulled the pin and dropped the grenade through the crescent-shaped ventilator. went in a thousand pieces and a cloud of dust. Up she But there, staggering out of the dust and debris, came grampa. He stopped, looked back, scratched his head, and drawled,'^oy, I'm sure glad I didn't do that in the houseiV" �Goldfield, forty miles north of Gold Point, was a wild place in the early 1900*s. The town held ^,0^0 people, do| had five newspapers, three railroads, <^6 whorehouses, and saloons ’ twenty-five to the block. Gold was pouring from the ground, and high-grading paid better than wages. / ^^igh-grading became a way of life, or at least a way to the ^^g^d life.***^Miners had special pockets sewn into their co^ralls, and wore shoes with hollow heels and soles. Even pic^andles were hollowed out and cleverly plugged. Mine owners, figuring half of the best ore was walking out of the mines, insisted on building change houses so that no clothing -94- �T)fr0=sfaRY OUTHOUSE tools would leave the premises. The miners'^ union fought the move, and eventually Federal Troops were called in to cool things down. I By 1918, the veins were running thin, causing the big operator. Goldfield Consolidated, to close down. town lost half of its population. The Tex Rickard closed up his saloon and hung a sign on the door, 'Odod has gone to Rawhide.^ Zn 1923, a whiskey still blew up and much of the town burned, with the help of a fifty=mile=^per-hour wind. ^^harlie Cecchini was the ranking old-timer in Goldfield. He had lived there for sixty=bne years when we visited a few years ago. a great storyteller. and he^l crinkle He is a delightful old fellow, and Give him a chance to light his pipe, his eyes, take a breath, and tell it straight out. The fire in 1923 burned him out, and he had to buy another house. Things were cheapv since most of the popu- lation had moved out, so Charlie got his new house for down and $20-^60 a month until the entire purchase price of -Six d<5|le<ZS ■ $80;Q6 was paid off. He was earning a day mining for the Spearhead Mine. Later he worked for other mines, was constable, and for awhile worked as a railroad engineer. It was during that time that a fellow engineer drove his train through a house. �Norm Weis ^^is story called for a new fill of tobacco and three kitchen matches to get it fired properly. Talking through clenched teeth, and with an "old country*^accent, Charlie began his story. the engineer of a long train about miles outa here, near the town of Mina. on a sidetrack. Had about 150 cars Goldfield said they would send help, another engine, and two guys to help me out. 3:30 _A.M. wi They came puffing in at banging all Over the engine, and parts of a porch stuck on the headlight. It seems the two guys fell asleep on the way and didn^ wake up ^^il they ran through the house. The house had been moved to a spot by the tracks, ready to be loaded and relocated. Seems the wind blew the house onto the tracks, just in time for the engine to smack it dead center.W [c^rlie struck another match and continued. V%he engineer lost his leg when lumber flew through the cab. And lost his job when the boss caught up with him?^ ^Charlie Cecchini must be pushing eighty by now. I hope he is still puffing away and telling those grand S stories through clenched teeth. �GPaazTS ViLLfc XOAJE^ - (^mewhere north of Tonopah and east of the highway, an old road winds its way to three little ghost towns. Berlin, and Grantsville. Ione had an old log building Ione, with r-s �Txfo-stORY O/JTHOUSE^^ Norm Weis a fine sod roof that sprouted a tall crop of shady greenery. Just south, the remains of the old Berlin Mill were now sur rounded by the grounds of Ichthyosaur State Park. / Grantsville, the only town of the three that captured —5— S' my attention, was qiiifr^ obviously named after General,Grant. It A was located at the head of Grailsville Canyon, with Grantsville Ridge on one side and S^rman Hill on the other. The town’s sympathies were blatantin</ few rebel sympathizers ever ad mitted their preference. fAn old mill, a blown safe, a brick school, and a nui^er of shacks sat of town. the west sod- rooMrock house and ones half of an adobe outhouse made up I A the remainder of what was once the largest town in the area. .^he air rock residence had stood for more than -US o- years, to its stout construction. The roof ridge was a -i-bJeloe. timber, as was the rather unnecessary center pole. ' (2.3 The little adobe outhouse was of equal strength,^ evidenced by the fact that it still stood firm^P^-t despite the loss by vandalism of two of its walls. The roof was intact, extending outward in cantilever fashion, and extend- Ing three feet above the roof, the cesspool ventilator still delivered untoward odors to the passing breeze. UiSif. ^^ost towns when an oldrtimer still sits in residence. cinating. can be fas- when two bachelor brothers hold down the remains, it can be hilarious. J. , I Tfoeloe — bt -A �THOUSE Norm Weis ^uch was the case several hundred miles northeast of Reno, near the Rye Patch Reservoir, where Bill and Tom James guard the history of Humbolt Town and Humbolt House.) ■ ■ ■ -- —— ---were seventy and seventy-four years ^f mgr when I visited them a few years ago, but spry as fifty, and as full of the devil as a pair of teenagers. ^When I first asked their names, they answered 3^ and^'m 1%. - Tom James. in turn, T. Their formality belied their sincere hospitality. They loved history^ijaa^^njoyed recounting stories, and had pat answers for the most obvious questions. are no relation to the James boys -- Jesse and I--the gang, but our grandfather once provided a hideout for [ As to the old town of Humbolt, they had no first' hand information, but talked to Charlie Owens, the first resident of Humbolt, and could tell me what Charlie had said. Bill led off. ^sjbld Charlie was eighty in 1920. the town a highly tooted place. He always called They mined silver there -- began in 1860, when Charlie was sixteen, then got to be a real town in Tom listened carefully, and lent support with a nod of the head. ere was more than a hundred buildings up there long oner's still there -- the old Wells-^Fargo Bank -- but K -98- �T^=sf0RY OjStHOU^ Norm Weis harlie says fifteen of^/em was whorehouses, three saloons^ Said there was ( I asked if there were aMy churches or schools. Tom shook his head as Bill continued. V€harlie never ^/Course he was pretty old^^ mentioned any. ^Bill paused, thinking, then cracked a broad grin and told about the famous gunfight the way old Charlie had told it to him. (j^hree guys in the saloon was arguing, and they got kinda mad about it. They all had cap and ball Colts in their belts, and pretty soon their hands were edgi^ toward the handles. Everyone but the three angry guys hit the deck or ran outsideSZ Bilf^ eyes started sparkling as he recalled the good part of the story. harlie says one man went right over the top of d him, goddam sunabitch, he wasn'^t just a running, he was flyiniXk' / Now Bill'^ voice lias gone up a notch, and Tom is leaning forward as if he had never heard the story before. I^^lam, Blam, Blam ” and then it went awful quiet! The room was full of smoke from the black powder, but when it cleared, here come more bystanders, crawlin out, and inside, all three of those guys was deadiXy |The James boys keep a neat house and yard, although the yard is full of remnants of their considerable past. r �Norm weis ■ho An old grease rack was builtservice their 1915 Ford truck that they bought in 1938 for five bucks. When it broke down, they tore out the engine and the sawmill ax' that stands off to the side. They owned a ntamber of Modelpl'^s apparently storing the old ones as they bought new ones. , Recently, they sold the old wrecks off. VXSot . , for the last one^V^ says Bill. fAn old wooden propeller, bolted to one of the out buildings raised my curiosity. Bill was pleased I had noticed ^J^rom a Dehaviland J^il /lane. Used to come over ( here before we built the place -- started in 1919, always flew M two-wingers. Wouldn't trust those single'^v/ingersTom silently agreed, then pointed north as Bill continued. e a schoolhouse up north aways. Mail lavilands would come down and fly low right over the school. Kids would all flood out and wave. r. the pilots was killed in a crash, and another pilot/ — H I guess it was his friend, flew over to drop a wreath, and he crashed tocC!^^ A few years after my visit with the James boys. I flew my newly completed red and white biplane down the right * �side of the railroad track on my way to the Reno National Air Races. I roared over the James boys''^^place, then circled about and waved from the open cockpit. Down below, two figures stepped out of the house and waved back. _ ___________________________________ ___________ /( �Norm Weis If a twoxstory outhouse existed in California, it would probably be high up at the head waters of some gold- bearing creek. I traveled up the Trinity, down the Trinity, up the Klamath, the Salmon, and numerous small streams^where- There were countless small towns •^2 with neither spectacular outhouses memorable stories. I'm ever a road granted access. not even sure I could find the towns again. Places like Calahan and Cecilville fade into obscurity, but Johnsville was memo rable . /Once called Jamison, the town of Johnsville, now protected by the boundaries of Plumas Eureka State Park, lies ninety miles as the crow flies north. and a bit east of Sacrament<^ Cnlifornia to 1890, Johnsville was a �O0THOui^ CNorm wZia:; noted gold mining town, but as the ore pinched out, recrea tional skiing took its place. In fact, skiing, called snow' shoeing at the time, became popular in 1869, causing most historians to consider the slopes along Jamison Creek to be the birthplace of recreational skiing^ 1^ • J^acer gold was found in the creek in 1850, but soon after, prospectors found the hard rock mother lodes on the slopes above. During the next twenty years, numerous min ing operations were developed, capitalized, sold, and resold. None seem^i^ have been operated efficiently. In 1872, English interests bought up most of the mines and created an order^, money=making operation. The superintendent of operations was named William Johns, so the new town, built to replace .Tami snn Town, took~thc tibtie of Johnsville. f ^^t the peak of operations, the largest mill ran / sixty stamps, processing 150 tons of ore per day, from which / in bullion was claimed <V<rM r '---- - \ Also, three^hile^or'^hi 11/wheels ground lesser amounts of ore. Each **^eel”"^as a pair of nine-foot^iameter, two=footsthick granite rollers that wheeled about like two unicyclistsV arms locked, peddling in opposite directions. ^now fell seven months of the year, and to deliver ore, snow sheds were constructed over ore car tracks, or tramways were built to connect mine and mill. Perhaps it was the 2 �TWO=S Norm Weis resence of the tramways that brought about the popularity of snowshoeing. Miners could sling their twelve«-foot'^hoes^ . A over their shoulders and hitch a ride up the hill on one of the three tramways, then ski down and do it again. Two of Ti'ffeftO heuodwee# the tramways were more than feet long. ^^^_^creational enthusiasts once claimed fights were the most popular endeavor, followed by women, then fights over women, jumping, foot races, and snowshoeing. But after the tr^ms were built, the preference was reversed. /In 1869, flyers advertisedY'Four Days of Snowshoe Races, and a Grand Ball on St. Patricl^ Night" ^That was only the beginning. In 1871, a reporter described the races, as later published in the Plumas County Hi^orical SocietyV^\ytlumas Memories.V/ 2^2’77**!^ event was a snow-shoe race of three miles, for a purse of two hundred dollars, the contestants being four of our citizens, viz: Mr. Chris Kennan, wearing of the gree^ Mr. Frank Surratt, with scarlet colors, against Mr. Louis Christopher, with crimson, and Mr. Chase; Hanson, in blue, the citizens making a purse in addition,' of fifty dollars, to be given to the second man in,7^^^Ji_ -X..”At^he signal all started in fine style, Kennan and Surratt gaining rapidly for about a thousand yards, when Surratt, in passing a tree, broke a shoe and came down, Ke^an running upon him and also coming down, with a ^noe broken. Hanson added his body to the pyramid, but was soon on his shoes again, while Christopher steer ed c/e<ir, and for a moment had the race all to himself; but Hanson soon came up to him upon a steep pitch, and the two came between the poles, Christopher in ten and a half minutes, and Hanson fifteen seconds later, win ning both purses.*~-C_ �Norm Weis Experts, who were upon the ground, say that with shoes and snow both in excellent order, the distance could be made in seven minutes. The snow, yesterday, was too e^an and Surratt, Although defeated, are not di smayed, rfd challenge any parties living in the Jamison Mining District to a race over the same course for any sum’', from $250 to .^500 a side^r^T*—>— yirT 1872, the race course was shortened to 1676 feet, matching the length of one tramway. lonald led off, gaining forty feet on his competitor, but in crossing the flat Hanson came up finely, and at~~~~~~ forty feet from the outcome one of his shoes passed be tween those of McDonald, and of course it was all up with Hanson. Here Hanson made a pass with his pole at the shoes of his opponent, but punched the rider in the head instead, and Me, in return, threw his pole at Hanson who raised up on his shoes to grasp Me by the shoulder, losing his balance and going between the poles somewhat like a Catharine-wheel in a Fourth of July p — ^celebration, Mc^winning the purse. Time, 25 seconds. 1^77-- ?*Then came Keenan and John Penman. The start was a good ^ne, but on the turn of the long pitch. Penman inadvert■^ntly permitted the point of his pole to touch, which caused it to fly from his grasp, hitting him a hard blow on the back of his head, with force enough to send the pole flying twenty feet into the air. This stagger^^ him for an instant and caused him to run wide, and lose about forty feet, but recovering his position he came in splendidly, jjnly four feet behind his opponent. Time, 24 seconds.. q ^n the small museum near the old Moi>awk Mill, one can see some of the ten=^foot and twelvej=foot skis used by the old-time snowshoers, and read about the deeds of the most A n famous skier of the time, S^ow Shoe Tompson. For five years. Snow Shoe skied the mail from Placerville to Genoa and back, '— �-taking fifteen days for each round trip, a feat that would be hard to duplicate today. Rown_hill and southwest of Johnsville, in much gentler clime, one of the early settle?^ most spectacular after more than'^fi^ years ' of continuous use. It is^the world^s longest wooden covered bridge, with a free span of 230 feet. I had driven its length some years earlier, and being in the vicinity, I wished to drive within its shadowed timbers once more in celebration of man'^ engineering skills. alas, a new concrete bridge, shortly upstream, had replaced the old wooden structure, and the covered bridge was closed to traffic. Reinforcements and supporting pillars had been added, some of which seemed poorly designed, and almost guaranteed to wipe out the bridge should high water cause debris to gather. . VI clE’ --- ^_During my wanderings in the California 'putback, I stumbled upon a combination of enterprises quite new and unexpected. It was a small country store with a cafe in the back that served as a bar in the evenings. -106- �J^^S'/'ORY O^THOUSE^T" orm Weis few days later, I had breakfast in Bill -^Bull^ I Meek’s place in Camptonville, and it was an order of magnitude beyond. Beyond what? Well, beyond strangeness is the best way to put it -- and I guess you would have to understand the Clampers to really know the meaning of **s^ange.**^^Bill Meek was a Head Humbug of the E. Clampus Vitus organization. and his outlook on life could be seen in his unique store. The front of the large two=story building was mostly grocery store. A cubicle on the left enclosed the Justice Court, and was occupied by Meek's grandson, Acton Cleveland. In the back, a heavy-duty bar stretched across the width of the building. To the side were three refrig erators filled with beer, and in the corner leaned a base^^^^ ball bat and an axe-^andle. I was A.M. and the man cooking my breakfast alternated between sucking on a cigar and sipping a beer. Somewhere a juke box was ruling on low. Two unshaven characters entered on a zigzag course, bumped into me and apologized. The cook eyed them carefully, then checked the comer to see that the weapons were handy. arguing heavily. The two sat down, The cook reached under the cash register, grabbed a billy club and slammed it on the counter, eyed the two men and asked, V^ould you gentlemen care to order^'JX^ �Norm Wei^ was originally a gold mining town, catering to the needs of the placermen, and later the hydraulickers. Town was moved twice to permit sluicing the land for gold. At its peak, there were more than people, and thirty stores, hotels and saloons, stretched out on both sides of a mile=long plank road. Later, when the gold was gone, the town dwindled, but survived on the logging industry. [The old country store had been burned to the ground and rebuilt twice, the last time with concrete blocks. Even that building burned down recently, and its customers were taken over by the bar across the street. ^uch of the town's history is tied in with the strange group mentioned earlier -- the ^^'^?~Clampus Vitus H which in Latin means something like'^from darkness to light The Clampers, as described by one of their own members, were a bunch of horse^laying, jackass-braying men dedicated to the burlesque of all secret societies, and to the preservation of the belly laugh and heavy drinking. It was charitable on occasion, always claiming to help widows and orphans, mostly the former. They believed in exercising reverence for womanhood, even while in pursuit. -108- �o/jTHOUSE Norm Weis 9 ^^teetings were held anywhere, preferably in bars, if outside, the meeting p^Lace was called the **§^1 but of Comparative Oration.**'^^hey proved that men will be boys! I The society began in West Virginia as a hoax and a joke, and traveled^West, gathering mystique on the way. Joe Zumwalt carried the idea to California, and the garb he habitually wore became the ‘"uniform of future Clampers. Joe wore long red-flannel underwear, no shirt, a rope belt. dungarees, old boots. and a plug hat. Heading parades as the Grand Humbug, he also carried a ten=foot staff with a phallic symbol on top. t sometimes nightly -- or d whenever a few new conscripts could be conned into joining. The fee varied from nothing to X)half of what you have.\X Initiates were blindfolded, stripped to their long underwear. smeared with cream or butter, or whatever could be found, then paraded down the street. Once accepted, they had the honor of buying drinks for older members for the balance of the evening, and sometimes part of the next day. The ClaiBpere^caiTied out some worthwhile projects, such as designating the long covered bridge on the Tuba as a National Histoid.c Civil Engineering landmark. They also placed a plaque honoring Lester Allen Pelton, inventor of the Pelton ^i^eel. This wheel enabled water to be used efficiently to power such things as 8ta^> mills. �Norm Wei^ uii WiL ¥ CoPt "Forty miles east of Baker, Oregon, at the little town of Halfway, a road exits to the left and soon becomes a climbing windlp;gravel road reaching into the Wallowa Mountains, ending at the old mining town of Cornucopia. good prospect for a tall outhouse, It was a to its altitude, but a search of the town revealed no such structure. I would have crossed it off my list as a failure had I not been taken with the beautiful architecture and excellent workmanship evident in the construction of some of the buildings. Two old homes were particularly beautiful, with vaulted roof lines, fancy windows, arched balconies, and nicely angled staircases. , Even ^0^ l^f some of the old tumbled and tom wrecks seemed to take on a noble character as they leaned into the elements and fought the good fight against the inevitable tug of gravity. ^Jfeny of the buildings were built during the first boom in 1884, when the population peaked at ab^t All had high=peaked roofs to shed the heavy snowfall that often exceeded twenty=four feet. Roads became snowpacked to a depth of eight feet, and stage coaches ran on sled runners instead of wheels. It was a cold place in the winter, and cold all year round in some of the mines. (rhe names of some of the claims indicate the -—> 4 �:^j^O=--stORY O0THOUSE^^ Wej^ ■natui^e of the weather and the climate down the shafts and tunnels. V)41askaJ4i*^'^fcH(BSBil^®i^^^an Winkleand '^ruin^ were a few. Extensive remains of one of these mines can be found at the edge of town. Most of the buildings are intact, including a structure at the mine entranc^p On thi tracks exiting the mine are a dozen side-tipping ore cars, a personnel car, and an old rusty engine. Considerable water flows from the mine opening and becomes a good-sized creek that flows through town. Stepping into the mouth of the tunnel, one is met by a blast of cold air. ply A short distance from the tunnel, a large twox story building served as a bunkhouse for unmarried miners. It had six rooms upstairs and four down* with n. central htuH. recreation room a large stove in the middle, the building\j4 only source of heat. / A small building next door holds an old wagon bed equipped with ten-foot runners, making this a sled shed. A Next door is the old mine office, plastered with maps and complete with receipts from 1940, obviously the date of the last mining effort. I One of the rooms in the min© office had a door somewhat shorter than norma^^ ^rf^oh opened to a throne room complete with elevated floor and John. It was'Sir John -—- \D �Norm Wei Harrington that gave the yohn^its name, just as Sir Thomas Crapper provided us with XXcrappei^V' two inventors U"? .seldom given credit for their widely used creations. c STEA D I^^opping down out of the mountains, I took a left at Halfway and headed for the Snake River and the town of Homestead. My topographic maps and outdated maps of mining districts had revealed dozens of likely towns. Any town that looked like a going concern on an old map, and is barely indicated, or better yet, missing entirely on new maps, was the sort of place I wanted to have a look at. f ^ost such towns had kept up with the times, destroying old buildings and replacing them with new struck "tures which, of course, were built with no thought of outhouses or the preservation of history. / Homestead was an exception. Located on the con fluence of Pine Creek and the Snake River, at the lower end of Oxbow Lake, this mining remr^nt had two old but well kept homes, and dozens of old weathered buildings jjp just the type of installation that I enjoyed. Nosing about the buildings, 5 I could deduce their past rol£, perhaps gain an idea of what brought iX into exist^nc^/Xand what caused 3^ demise. [One old building looked like a school, and indeed dale still had slates on the walls. Checking the copyright on some old books indicated the school probably closed in the forties Me �C~Norni Weis ITHOUSE On a shelf in the coal house behind the school, I found a I stood there, with two cameras slung about 1931 reader. my neck, scanning the old book, when the elderly caretaker confronted me. ^The caretaker wasn’t sure what he should me. do with He looked me over, eyed the cameras, and told me not to take anything. I agreed, and we went our separate ways. ^n old road led up the hill a short distance to ne and mill. Bits of blue rock were scattered throughout the waste dump, indicating copper was mined at one time. The place was littered with old machineryy^ belt^ jit the mine opening, a number of ore cars sat on a short stretch of rails, resting on rotted ties. An old ledger showed the nameV^fron Dyke Mineand listed the assay on one shipment. The ore was heavy in copper and contained a small amount of gold. / I returned to the largest building in what must have been a company town. It was over feet long, perhaps half as wide, and had a broad covered porch running its full length. Peeking through the windows, I could see dining halls. pastime rooms, and a large kitchen. Reaching the end of the large building'^, I was surprised to find it was joined to another building of similar size and construction. me where nearby I could hear voices voices, raised to overcome impaired hearing. -113- loud �TJ^S^ORY O^THOUS ^^ell, if you caught him in the school, why didn^t you throw him out^^^ XXjell, I ragged him a while, then told him not to steal anything.V /Obviously the two gentlemen were hired as care^ takers, and probably lived in the two wellVkept homes along the row. It wouldn't do to leave them in doubt. I found them just around the corner, and turning up my volume, I let them know that I was about to leave the place. They relaxed, their problem solved, even seemed friendly. Indeed, they supplied answers to all my questions. j ( <0 rag. u-Zi 3 redJ [The place once held families, and enough single miners to fill both dormitories. The original claim was made in 1890, but the mining hit its peak 1915 1918, then again from 1925 to 1927, but most of the mines closed in 1942. That\% when the school locked its doors. ^ore than 150 men worked in the Iron Dyke Mine alone, and some mining was carried out there until 1952. The company provided its workers with two stores/^nd a choice of several saloons! ^The entire operation was presently owned by the Butler Ore Company, the employer of the two caretakers. offered them a cup of coffee out of my thermos, or a beer from the ice-^ox, but was politely refused. Ob viously that would be exceeding the bounds of proper �(^jrj^°s/ORY O^HOUSE Norm Wei behavior for caretakers charged with protecting the grounds from the likes of me. -US’- �Norm Weis X VJA^LLX\CE Ti>aH0 ANO z -For the past few monthsI traveled, someone always suggested I visit Silver City, Idaho. A few ' folk had suggested the area north of Kello^ and Wallace, Idaho. Again, planning to save the best for last, I headed north into the panhandle of Idaho to have a look at the area near Wallace. ^After a while, driving becomejrote/ and a persoii^ mind tends to wander. I recalled the various reactions that followed my many inquiries concerning two^story outhouses. Most people were dumbfounded, tending to sputter out some sort of stalling answer, waiting for a punchline or an explanation. In Montana and Wyoming there was occasional understanding, and often there were apologies that the structures had all disappeared. �prtn Weis^ In Texas they said,X>(jhat?V But In Crested Butte, Colorado, when asked about two=story outhouses, they assumed that you needed to use it! I wondered what the reaction would be in Idaho. [_Wallace, located at the east end of\Xjilver Valley is a town of about 2^1100 people, and likes to be known as '^y^he Home of the Silver Dollar^^ ItVs the headquarters for a number of mining and smelting companies. and has the gray sooty look of a town long in the mining and smelting business. ^The museum in Wallace had a number of excellent ore samples, old photographs, and booklets telling of the long=lasting union wars that racked the community. ^rom Wallace, a number of roads radiated outward like the spines of a spidei^^s web, reaching upward along various creeks and gulches. I drove up Nine Mile Road to Delta, then cut over the hill east to the marvelous old town of Murray. The town was full of history^ old buildings, few J <^^4 '' people! ^^pjEt no tall outhouses. Everyone said, '^’^go to Burke ^_I_ returned to Wallace and took the Canyon Creek Road, passing through a nearly‘continuous series of mines, smelters, and small settlements. Gem blended with Black Bear, which gave way to Mace, and became Burke. Along the way I drove a road that also made up the bed of two railroads. the‘^Northern Pacific**and the **bregon Washington**^ lines. �Tii^o=s'/^ oi/thoube^^ Norm Weis Beneath the concrete surface ran the waters of Canyon Creek. I would sonn learn that Canyon Creek was not the proper name for the ^reek in this locality, but Ripley's claim that this was the only place in the world where the railroad, the creek and the road occupied the same space, was thor'^Mghly evident. In fact, I would find another category < that could be added to Ripley's claim, get K E It was late afternoon, and the only establishment open in the little town of Burke was a bar crowded between the road, railroad, creek, and the rising ground behind. I entered, and soon became educated to the local ways and local terminology. ^^fter ordering a sandwich at the bar, I spread out an old 1901 topographic mining map of the area. Old maps tend to attract a certain type of on^lookers -- those interested in history, and willing to share their interest. was the barmaid. This time it She left the bar and took up a position where she could read the map over my shoulder. [ I took the cue and asked her if there were any two-story outhouses in the was the reply, XyAt least there was one behind the Sweets Hotel up S^^<Creek aways.Xy out the creek on the map. ‘^ays here the stream is unexpected. 9 vtoTCT �Norm Weis Come here — look at this map. They got the name of Creek wrong. You ever hear it called Canyon Creek)^ [joe ^swered from across the room. \AHell, no. ItVs always been 'Slr^t Creek — long as I can remember, J^Jhat particular four= letter word had never been in my mixed company repertoire, and I was slightly embar'^ <assed to hear it shouted about. I expected every head in the place to swivel in my direction in mild disapproval. But There were overhangers, trestle jobs, creek straddlers, and a small tributary called George GulchJ^^I wasn't about to ask the local name^^^V^ "t/iere was a bridge^outhouse combina tion. I had thought I knew it all when it came to unusual outhouses, but the bridge combo was new and fascinating. [The bridge was wood, a single span of about twenty feet, wide enough for one car/^nd two outhouses, that joined in the center to become one long structure accessed by two doors. The road crossing the bridge led to two unpainted homes, and the outhouses were no doubt a part of the property. �TJ$0-s/0RY OJ^THOUSeJ^^ Norm Weis I photographed the structure from all angles, noting that the sun was at the wrong angle. I would have to return for the morning light. I There was a nice place to pull off and camp a few miles up the main creek, just above the intake for the towii^s water supply. A sign nearby prohibited construction of any buildings ^(•meaning outhouses in particular)^ upstream from that point. I I dug out my maps and pamphlets pertinent to the area and spent the evening learning about the year mining effort in Silver Valley. [rhe 1901 map showed a number of mines that are not indicated on later maps. Obviously those mines were short-lived. The 1939 and 1957 maps indicated that Dorn A split off from Black Bear, then both faded into their neighbors, and^Frisco was bom near Gem. The Oregon Washing ton ^ine changed to the Pacific, and the town of Burke A grew another half mile up what all three maps referred to as Canyon Creek. ^bove Burke were the Tigerj^Poorman Mine, the Her cules, Tamarack, Custer, and Neversweat Mines. / Gold had been found in the area i^t 1860, but large-scale mining did not occur until the 1880*^ In 1892, the A fights between mine ow/jers and organized miners began. '\ �<^^2^Norm Wei^^ ^O=STORY 0 y^The first battle resulted in sixteen wounded and five dead before the Army was called in. But the miners^ union had a foothold. Dissatisfaction with working conditions continued for several years, and another war broke out in 1899. Over Oic IQQQ miners comandeered a train, loaded it with dynamite, and forced the engineer to drive it west to Kello^. They parked the train under the Bunker Hill Mill and set it off! Two men were killed by gunfire, and the y^rmy returned to restore order. More than miners were arrested. y^lowly the gold gave out, and zinc, silver, and lead became the production metals. Lead refining in the valley its own slow insidious cunfldQ TTie acciden tal target was the health of the populace, primarily the children. Lead poisoning had been discounted for years until it was found that the children in the schools had a high lead content in their blood. This caused damage to the nervous system. next morning I headed down the valley, cameras loaded and ready. Most of the homes along the creek had ex tensions that hung over the creek, or outbuildings that straddled the creek. Later, I learned that a whorehouse once stood on -121- �(Tj^S/^ORY O^HOU^^ C^orm Weis J the creek bank, and a level catwalk extended to an outhouse that stood over the creek on twenty^foot stilts. It was an older gentleman from Northport that told me about it. sed to go to work in the morning shift, ^out four in the morning — still kinda dark. That^s when the gals were finished working and doin^ their chores out back. We used to applaud each one when they walked the catwalk back of the cathouse. Sometimes they^ take a bow. We applauded everything, including the sound effects.^ ^He looked at me carefully, and watched me take notes. f^ell ya who ya ought to talk to about them gals.'^y He paused. X^o -- No -- I wori^t give the old sTd?B. the M H satisfaction.^ (The light was right, and I returned to the bridge- A outhouse for more photographs. The resident of one of the homes watched me from his window. write in my notebook. He saw me snap photos, then Soon he came to the conclusion that I was a government man gathering evidence, probably a member of the hated Environmental Protection Agency. I He rushed out of the door, ran to the bridge and hollered, XjHje don’t use it anymor^-^-^'^a hear^ —*^e ain't used it for more'n a year!'^ Driving south, headed for Silver City, I passed •—' -122- �Norm Wei through a number of towns that looked great on the old maps, but none of them suited my purpose. Near Idaho City, I detoured to the remains of the Golden Age Camp to see little outhouse with the big sign over the door still survived It did -- the sign read.'«6AIN ENTRANCE .V/ -- —- K ’/Silver City is most easily reached via Jordan Valley, Oregon. A more challenging entrance is by way of the twenty^two=mile lumpy gravel road from State Highway 45, Either way, the town is well worth visitin ove. more than seventy buildings still intact. south of Boise. I / The old War Eagle Hotel had a very tall two^ story outhouse, but hotel and house burned down some years ago. However, a large number of tall specimens are still in action. ^^e Masonic /all, once a wood milling shop, built astraddle Jordan Creek, has two outhouses attached to the flank So as to drop deposits directly into the creek, bt A city ordinance later probated its use except during flood stage, at which time it was recommended that all daf>£>^ic:s trash be thrown in the creek, an<Jz\all eart&losets be shoveled out and disposed of the same way. huge annual flushing -123- Sort of a f �Tj^O^SyORY outhouse: Norm Weis 1866, the big town in the area was Ruby City,’ o-fJ Co- wTthTaTmost a thousand people. The first winter, snow drifted so badly that some folk moved a mile south, upstream, to a more sheltered spot. Within two years, everyone had skidded their homes and stores, with the aid of sled runners and oxen. to the new site, and Silver City was bom. I’^T^ Waye''*'^^s published as the town’s first paper. paper. At its peak, with somewhere between and 5^1^ population, the town had six stores, two hotels, a brewery,, nine saloons, six of which were known to be Hurdy Gurdys. The Hurdy Gurdy joints stood in a row and became known as^^irgin's Alley .MX ^bout this time, two prospectors filed a claim on a prospect later to be called the Poorman Mine. Then another man claimed an outcrop of the same vein about feet away. He was challenged by the original claimants, then ousted by a third group promptly built a fort at the tunnel en trance. They called it ‘*Fort Baker’’^ and held off any claim jumpers. Later, all the purported owners sold out, and the worth of gold and new owners promptly took out silver. The Oro Fino Mine was so rich that the ore could -124- �Norm Weis ORY OUTHOUSE be crushed by sledge and panned by hand. Its ore ran more ^ost of the ore was very rich and easily processed. Four stamp mills in town had only a total of fifty stamps, yet <2 —— kv> 1111 o m tjJ 0.5 nearly $40^s&^^^in valuable metals wexB taken from the area, making the Silver City Lode second only to the Comstock in Nevada. fining slacked off in the^O^, then surged again in 1930. Silver City lost its place as ^^iounty ^eat in 1934, and by 1944 only one man, Willie Hawes^as left in town. <•0 c J I , was responsible for the Willie, townVs preservation during the twenty^some years that Silver City had become a ghost. ^ilver City's history was marked by several large* scale shoot-outs. When a dispute over claim boundaries could not be resolved, each side hired gun^slicks. The Golden Chariot Mine crew attacked the Ida Elmore group, and fought a gun battle for three days. Many were wounded, but only two were killed -- one from each side -- before the /avalry M arrived to break it up. The fight was revived in town, and two more were killed. The gun fight occurred near the Idaho Hotel, which stands today very much as it did in the 186(V^^ Three stories I3 tall, and full of small rooms crowded with furniture, it the prize tourist spot in town. Where rooms once were �^ORY ofaHOUSEgX Norm Wej^ a night, and fire in the room was extra, you can now take a guided tour of the ^otel for a similar fee. Ed Jagels, of Murphy, Idaho, the present owner and proprietor, escorts hundreds of visitors through the 1 the ^otel each season. int±[Tl~ttrc hallways of He*^ full of stories about the town. One of his favorites deals with the hanging of 1881. When Henry McDonald was found guilty of murder and sentenced to hang, one of the stores in town prepared for the big event by preparing a Vlftangman'^s Special LunctX It was raining when they hauled McDonald to the scaffold, On the way, a youngster ran^,slipping and sliding Jpast the death wagon. L^Goiri^ somewhereasked McDonald. /The youngsterZ/'A^^/tW/there was was hurry, son — won'^ be much doin^ till I get therereplied McDonald. father Nattini and the sheriff soon led Henry McDonald up the steps to the platform and centered him over the trap door. The death warrant was read to the victim, his hands were tied, and his head covered with a hood. I At 1:54 the trap was sprung, and l/v\G.5Se. nesses left opjj^taes for the saloons. ' j wit- �Cj^rm WeiJ^ XI M I f\J G 0^3 M £ When the price of gasoline rose above a buck a gallon, I cut my travels short until the billfold shock slowly wore off. As a result, I learned a great deal more about Wyoming. History is close to the surface in my home state. It was here that Jim Bridger hunted, guided, told his lies, and built his fort. Here the Union Pacific cut its ties and forged a path from ^ast to west. in turn receiving title to twenty sections of land for every mile of track laid. And just twenty miles north of my home, the Teapot Dome scandal took place. [when I first visited the Naval Reserve No. 3, called Teapot Dome, I had no idea that- a town named Teapot ever existed, but the remains were there -- a few old buildings. the remnants of streets, and a grand old water tank. Although chipped by wind-blown gravel / and badly rusted, the name -—\ / �Norm Weis teapot, Wyomlnjg^ and -febo=wwis'^ater Supply</are still quite legible. Just why a water tank would be painted so grandly became clear when I learned the history of the town and the scandal. It would appear that a scam and a scandal were underway at the same time. Way back in 1873, a Wyoming historian named Hunton, made the journey north from Fort Caspar to investigate rumors of X^6ily dirt.X/ An Indian guided him and helped him scrape some heavy oil into a container. They ha4 collected almost a quart of V^greas^when hostile Indians chased them / off. / [__Many years later, the undergroundj dome-shaped trap was tapped, and in 1920 the dome was declared a ^ay<l jZ^il eserve. About this time. President Harding appointed Albert as Bacon Fall, formerly a senator from New Mexico, the pcoitioi W^ecretary of interior. In 1922, Secretary Fall contacted Harry Sinclair, president of Mammoth Oil Company, and after receiving $198^8® in bribes, secretly leased the Teapot Dome to Sinclair. Later, Fall conned Sinclair out of another then $10^9® more, and yet another $257^^^ It bordered on blackmail. At the same time, the Teapot Development Company erected the water tank, painted it up fancy, and marked off 1,040 town lots^; -S^^ere sold thp f i rat day, and in three �gjfcs'j^ORY OI^THOUSeTT" CZNorm Wei^ months, 903 had been purchased. A store was built, but few lot owners built, preferring to sit on their deeds, hoping that oil rights went with the lots. ^^Hien the scandal broke, the town died, if indeed it had ever lived. None of the lot owners profited, but Sinclair and Fall did quite well. ^J^e trial was to take over six years. Several majority stockholders of other oil companies adjourned to France, one for twenty^five years, another for the rest of his life. There were two civil suits, two contempt cases, and eight criminal trials. Harry Sinclair was sentenced to three months in jail for refusing to testify and for jury tampering. Former Secretary Fall was convicted of accepting a bribe, and sentenced to one year in jail not a bad deal, since he had received more than $400^^®" for his complicity. The Teapot Dome Scandal was only a momentary set^ back for Sinclair and his oil company. Soon, exploration crews found a number of oil fields, and pipelines laced their -S 1'25 way across the ^tate connecting wel^ to refinery. ^lon^ one of those pipelines , in 1923, a pumping station was built to hasten the flow along, and around that station a small town grew. Residents called it Ferris others called it "Ferris Dome," or just Ferris.**”^ To the Sine ompany it was "Station Three,’ �TWO Norm Weis but whatever its name, it was built in the most hostile spot in the ^tate. ^2^cated just south of the Ferris Mountains, and west of the Seminoe Mountains, amid the sand dunes of the high plains desert, the town suffered from low temperatures and high windsM/)e/ damnable sand dunes continually crawled into town, covering fences, crowding houses, and requiring the constant attention of bulldozers. Airborne sand filtered into every nook and cranny. even piling up in attic spaces to such an extent that ceilings collapsed on dining room tables and carpeted living rooms. The Sinclair )^ompany spent thousands of dollars vacuuming every attic in town on a rotating basis. Finally the sand and wind won the battle. the town was abandoned. In 1949 One recluse remained until 1958, and now the buildings are slowly being covered with sand. Some local ranchers are Xjliberatin^i^ the lumber from the buildings before they are buried forever. --- Fifty miles north, tucked into the south end of �^=S'f:ORY O^THOUSE^^ Norm Weis Pedro Mountains, there is a delightful little pocket of greenery traced through by a small stream of clear cold water. Sagebrush grows twelve feet tall, and cottonwoods soar above. [This was one of the favorite spots of an Indian tribe that lived in the Pedros. They were an isolated tribe and had little contact with other Indians. In the late ISSOj^f^they were crowded out by the ^ite ^n^s incursions, but they left behind a n^mento that would cause great confu sion and speculation. Two prospectors found a deposit of graphite above the green glade, and claimed it under the name ^^^be Ninety- Six Graphite Mine.””^They dug into the mountain fifty feet or so, then slanted downward, hoping in vain that the vein would richen and thicken. Their efforts failed, and others tried their luck. Traces of gold were found, but nothing of value was uncovered/^ntil one blast opened up an old cave that held the mystery left by the Indians. [on a narrow shelf, high on the side of the cave, was found the tiny mummified body of a human being. He was fourteen inches tall, badly wrinkled, and with a head that lopped over as a beret might fall to one side of a manVs head The mummy was put on display, fees charged, and soon �"became the only profitable item to be Wiinec^</ from the Pedros. ^^Occasionally the mummy was permitted examination by experts, and some not so expert. The results were dis appointing to the displayers, and they chose to include in their brochures only those few explanations that made the mummy out to be the remains of a midget Indian. Probably a member of a midget tribe, they claimed. They called it the ’^Attle Man,**^nd the ’*01d Ninety-Six Graphite Mine,'**^nd every mine within ten miles became the **tAttle Man Mine.**^ f Writers perpetuated the mystery, making hay from the story, I just as the carnival folk made money displaying the remains for the price of a ticket. The legend grew. The truth is less exciting. One of the first to examine the mummy was Dr. Whiston, a Casper^Wyoming bone specialist. Fromays and a general examination, he stated the mummy was the remains of a malformed Indian child, probably the result of ii^reeding. The skull was incomplete, allowing the brain to lop over, a rare, but a defect was always fatal soon after birth. birth defect. Such Very likely the mother of the malformed infant lovingly placed her child on the high ledge in the cave, then closed the opening with rock. Time and dry air aged the child. The wrinkles and a little imagination created the legend of Little Man, ”'^^nd an entire race of pygmy Indians. �Rock At the turn of the century, when Cattle Kate left Rawlins and homesteaded a small spread on the Oregon Trail near Independence Rock, a series of events were set in motion that would rock the ^tate, and ultimately cost he^life and that of her friend, Jim Averill. ^J^te had a reputation for trading personal favors, and seemed to have a working agreement with Averill, who ran a store and saloon situated a mile from KateV/s, near the Sweet Water River. After an evening of boozing it up at Averills, a celebrating cowboy would be pointed in the direction of Kat^<J^ cabin. fee. where he could find satisfaction for a nominal Lacking funds, it became common for cowpokes to trade a maverick calf for Katd^s favors. I 1 A calf a piece, as it were. Soon she became known as'battle KateS^ ^^JCate’s herd grew, and in time the number of cattle -133-3) �exceeded what the nearby ranchers considered a reasonable number of motherless, unbranded critter^^ ^^verill sometimes took calves in trade for merchan dise, and added them to Katess herd. Obviously the cowhands considered calves, which they intentionally left unbranded, a sort of fringe benefit. {_When Averill led a movement to prevent ranchers from controlling enormous land areas by what he considered illegal means, the ranchers decided to retaliate. Seven of them stopped by Kate'^ place, intending to teach her a lesson. A fourteen^year^ld lad named Gene Crowder, who had been helping Kate, was taken in tow by the ranchers, for fear he would run for help. They met Jim Averill just leaving his place, and at gun-point loaded him in the wagon with Kate. ^The lad. Gene Crowder, got away in the confusion, ran to Averill'^ home, where he enlisted the help of Frank Buchanan. Frank followed the abductors at a distance and later told his story. He claimed ^.fehey stopped at the river and threatened to drown the two of them. the brag, and called their bluff. Kate wouldn'^t buy They took their hostages on up the river to the top of a small cliff, where they threw a lariat about Jim^s neck, and tied the other end to a tree. They tried to get -134- �Norm him to jump off the cliff —"^e game, go ahe Kate kept dodging the noose they tried to put about her neck, but in the end, she was trussed like Averill. ^Buchanan, figuring it was getting serious, sent a shot their way and galloped off for help. {j^en the posse arrived, both Kate and Jim were dangling at ropd<lZs end, hanging off the edge of the cliff. -ptMg, The ranchers were arrested and pirh~under cto 11cv\J bond. At the inquest, Buchanan told the whole story, naming names/'and offering absolute identification. Several of the ranchers admitted their part in the deed, one claiming they only in tended to scare the two VA^stlers.X^ I It looked like an open-and-shut case, but strange '— A A things began to happen. Gene Crowder, the young lad, died of a disease, and Buchanan failed to show up at the trial. He was last seen riding north in a buggy with a new lawyer. Several witnesses to the rancher^^admission^uietly disappeared. ^udge Corn found that the indictment was \?not a true bill,\/and discharged their bonds! ^ine years later, Buchanads/s bones were found north of town, his favorite scarf still tied about the fleshless neck V �of my old maps showed a town named Signor, while a later map listed the same town as Rongis. later map showed both towns, a few miles apart. An even All were located on the old Rawlins-to=Lander stage road, just one ^0 / stop north of the Crooks Gap stage station. It was a puzzle that begged a solution. ^The Crooks Gap ^tation, a small building of huge logs, still monitored the occasional traffic on the dusty stage road. Rongis was likewise deserted. cabin, and a broken=down barn marked the spot. An old Cattle wandered in and out of both buildings, using doorways as rubbing posts. I Ranchers in the area pointed me toward Harold Rogers, ^urator of the Lander ^useum. I^ccording to Harold, a gent by the name of Charlie Fletcher, a traveling gambler, stopped by the small ranch - /34- ' �TWO Norm Weis settlement of Signor and got a poker game started. Thirty:^ six hours later he owned the town and the ranch. He promptly turned the letters about, and renamed his town *^Rongis. Later, Rongis moved two miles to the west, and the old site reverted to "S^nor.**"^^ [^search of old county records turned up another strange name change. When developers bought up the old Ried Road ^anch, just south of Lander, Wyoming, they incorporated the ranch as the town of '^^imbuctoo,''b^hoping the catchy namp would attract attention and enhance sales. It didn't. But the site so that I could claim that I had I been to Timbuctoo and back in my search for rare outhouses and wild stories/ j^ort Washakie was built at a time when Indian uprisings were greatly feared, but its stout rock block^ bJoc^hooit houses were never put to use, except as temporary jails. Today the old cavalry stable is used by the ^tate ^ighway de partment* several employees o£ vhieli stoutly claim^is haunted. ^n quiet afternoons, right at quitting time, foot^ steps can be heard coming down the length of the long building. Dogs perk up their ears and whine as they follow the direction of the footsteps. The footfalls are those of a boot-shod cavalryman, and they turn into a small room now �brm Weis used as an office. There, the rocking chair suddenly begins to rock and creak, and dogs leave the room on bent legs with standing hair. (^bviously the story was true, for there was the And the chair? dog, right there by the chair. A rocking f chair, of course/ / (7^ '— ___ pc Jim Bridger built his fortified store in 1842 at the junction of the emigrant trail and th^lack Fork of Green River, in what is now Southwestern Wyoming. He tradedMth trappers, Indians and emigrants with equal favor. ^J^en Morm^’ns settled near Salt Lake/^^d en countered Indian resistance, Bridger was blamed for selling KO powder to the hostiles. In 1853, one hundred fifty Mormons in two parties attacked Bridger's fort, forcing him to vacate. A few years later, Bridger visited with President Buchanan and told him of the problem. ^Federal Troops to retake the fort.. Si/ Buchanan sent in They converted it to ht-QOgtrgU a military post, paying Bridger In the per year rent. meantime. Bridger built a ferry across the North Platte River, next to a Mormon ferry. The Mormon ferry let Mormons across 17 �fTHOUSE Norm Weis free, but double charged all others. Bridger charged Mormons double and let all others.cross free. They forced each other out of business. (^2^en the Union Pacific built its tracks past Fort Bridger, a small town sprouted, which continued after the ^ort was abandoned in 1890. However, the real story is not the ^ort, but the life of Jim Bridger. He was one of the WesfVs great characters. in 1804, and orphaned at thirteen, he headed j?est. At eighteen, he joined Ashley^s fur trappers and made his first trip into the northern Rockies. When Hugh Glass, one of the trappers, was badly mauled by a grizzly, young Jim Bridger and an older fellow named assigned the task of standing by Glass until he died. Indians were in the area, fires were risky, and food was short. Glass weakened, but hung on. When he seemed far past recovery, the two men left him and traveled south to safety. L But Hugh Glass recovered, and crawled and scrambled toUo I to Fort Laramie, blood in his eye, looking for those deserted him. He threatened Jim with his life, then forgave him/^ince he was young and green. ^Jim Bridger topped out at more than six feet, walked remarkably erect for a trapper, and saw things with his pale gray eyes that few others could detect. He was �ORY Ol^raOUSE Norm Weis never lost, and had an uncanny feel for the weather. Jim visited Yellowstone Lake when he was twenty^ six^^nd watched as two Indians disappeared forever beneath the crust of a hot pool. Later he told friends of the geysers and hot pools, but few believed him. This set Jim to telling wild stories. I They began to call him^ld GabeVwhile he was Still young. Everyone listened to his wild stories, and many greenhorns believed them. ^He told of petrified birds in petrified trees singing petrified songs, and of a large mountain of pure crystal that you could see through. "XZfook half a day to walk around it.^^i/ He claimed that he hauled out a chunk big as his arm and had it tested Wure Diamond,Vhe claimed. He even took three shots at an elk in that same area, then walked up to bleed it. Turned out the glass mountain was acting like a telescope -- t durn elk was twenty-five When he had two arrowheads removed from his back in a one^our operation, without benefit of anesthesia, the doctor couldiP^t believe the wounds hadn'^t^ infected. [^ridger spoke English, Spanish, some French, and ten Indian tongues, and he told stories in every language. 'V �T^S^ORY OUTHOUSE Norm Weis [jOnce, near Lake DeSmet, a small alkali pond at the time, he pointed out the oil seep above, and the coal outcrop below. I^^^e^open up that thar oil seep and run \Zr inter the lake -jj then touch off thet coal, and bile the hull thing down ter soap.XX (^aptain Palms believ^him, and so did a famous historian, who relayed this great idea to his rich friends r- even printed the fact later. [Jim always claimed the hills were growing, and delighted in pointing out a large boulder, claiming it was only a pebble when he put it there years ago. -Po/ / / He had a fascination Shakespeare, always identifying heavily with the characters, but always becoming disillusioned with their foul behavior. ^^_After he saw a Shakespearean play at Fort Laramie he promptly bought a book of plays at the /ut/le^/^d hired a private to read it to him. He loved it until the private got to the point where the two boy princes had their eyes put out. Jim asked the private,'^id he do that^^/ When the soldier reread the passage, Jim grabbed the book and threw it in the fire t’- Vfhat^ what I think dV himiVZ M He never lost his taste for Shakespeare. Once he stopped a train and traded a span of oxen for a copy of^: S'CaT'/ck's �Norm Weis a book on Shakespea^ Later he hired a boy at a month to read it to him, until the boy got to the story of Richard That cooked it rr VZi ain'^t listnen ter any more talk of a man n who war mean enough to kill his mother ^ne of Jim's favorites was the story of th^%uffalo Dam?^ Seems he was camped on the Platte, below Cottonwood Springs, when a'VXierd of buffalo came a streamir^down the hill -- we corralled the wagons and put the stock inside, M lest they be tromped.\/ [ae herd plunged into the river, one on top of another. The droves were enormous. miring down and climb ing over until 'dammed the river --'^nd the water rose to M where the wagons was -- Came plumb up to the axles, and it n were only a little short of washiri^ us away and drownin''^ /A few years ago, a coal-fired power plant was built half a hundred miles east of historic Fort Bridger, a place Old Gabe loved for its pristine beauty and its air so clear you co^ld \%ee for three days?</ -142- set �Norm Weis j power company named it the "Jim Bridger" plant, and ever since, ^Id Gabe has been turning unmea sured revolutions per minute in his grave. [In fact, the climate near his burial plot in Kansas City has warmed noticeably since the construction of the power plant, no doubt the result of the friction created by his rapid rotation! un �t’ORY Ol^THOUS yii Norm Weis U. I AH’ OR/ Summer was approaching and it was time I made plans to follow up the leads and hot tips that had accumulated while I had been rummaging about my home state. /Most of the tips -etfeoat sites in the Continental / '— -VollotJcet up 0/1 . ' ^tates had already been The inaccuracies of these leads were amazing, and did nothing to instill confidence in the sites yet unvisited. to Alberta,Xy the tipsters said. "There was a two^stoty outhouse in Lundbreck -- and be sure to visit Nordegg.Vj/ Al In British Columbia it was Fort Steele, Wildhors^^and Sandon. Then there were rumors about Flin Flon, Manitoba, and a few towns in Saskatchewan. [1 laid out a trip that would include the towns* in British Columbia and Alberta. Promontory, Utal^ite of the completion of the transcontinental railroad was on the �Cr^-sfORY ofaHOUS^ CTNorm Wefs f I had long been interested in the history of its construction. ’ I^^esident Lincoln and General Granville Dodge met and discussed the feasibility of building a transcontinental railroad in 1863, in the middle of the Civil War. One year later, the Pacific Railroad Act was passed, which authorized payment of ten sections of land and a cash bond for each mile of track to be laid. One year later, Lincoln was dead. (j^n 1866, construction began with the Central Pacific/ building east from California, and the Union Pacific laying track west from Omaha. The race was on, with the faster track layer taking the king\>^ share. By 1868 it was clear that the roads would meet somewhere in Utah, but since two^thirds f of the perrmile pay was awarded for finished grade, both roads built grades far in advance of their tracks. l(3/) The (Government hat/ upped the ante to twenty sections of land per mile of road, and the stakes were high. By the time the actual tracks approached a meeting point, both railroads had built grades more than 150 miles past the actual meeting point. The grades often ran parallel, although in opposite directions — even crossed several times. Rival grad- ing crews thought nothing of setting^powerful explosive charges without warning, as their competitors labored close by. I After much mediation, grade crews were called in and the tracks directed toward a meeting point in Promontory, Utah. . �o^thouseS^ Norm Weis The tracks were due to join on May 7, 1869, but the trainload of Union Pacific officers was held up by irate, workers at Piedmont, Wyoming. wages. unpaid The men demanded their back With the engine chained to resident of the Union Pacific saw the light, and telegraphed east for the funds. ^The Central Pacific folk had been celebrating for three days, waiting for the Union Pacific, and were in no mood to agree with the Union Pacific plans on just how the ceremony would be carried out. , The crowd grew unruly with the delay, so each side drove own silver spike. own golden spike and Each was tapped gently into a dally polished laurelwood tie. Then the spikes and ties were removed. was slipped in plac^and the honor of driving the last genuine spike was given to the two presidents of the railroads. Stanford of the Central Pacific missed. so Durant of the Union Pacific took a swing. He also missed. Two old-time spike drivers finished the job. I The story of the joining was better than the visit to the actual site. The engines standing in place are not the original engines, or even the right models. They are rented -I'UotzSCind from Paramount Studios at $100^^ each. In fact, nothing at the site is original, except one sledge and one shovel, which are on display in the small museum. -146- The Government plans to �orm have replica steam engines built, at $350 each, but as genuine historical monument at Promontory, tt^ U. / S./ Government has swung and missed. �As I drove north through Idaho, headed for British Columbia, I wondered how Canadian historical reclamations would stack up against the meager effort put forth at Promontory, [jThe road paralleling Kootenay Lake in Southeastern British Columbia was smooth and relatively free of traffic. I weighed my chances of finding a twojrstory ^-or more^ outhouse. Snows were bound to be deep, and much of the province seemed to be twenty or thirty years behind the States/Regarding in door plumbing. At my last stop for gas, a small station a few miles into British Columbia, I asked the attendant where I might find the men\ks room. He said there was no men'^ room, so I asked where I might find the outhouse. toward the bacl^yard He jerked his head \A6h, anywhere will be all right.V ^iondel, a rather modern mining town, at the dead end of British Columbia^/s Highway 3A, was a ghost in the making. The town was built around one industry -- the Bluebell Lead and Zinc Mine. The town boasted a beautiful golf course, modem school, and a complete business district. dying. But the town was Mining was phasing out, and miners were being trans ferred or laid off. I In two years it would be a ghost town with a golf course/^nd a swimming pool, unless some entrepreneur could continue it as a summer resort. -147-9 �brm Wei drove about the town, inquired about outhouses, and was directed to try the area west of Kaslo. [ A free ferry took me across Kootena^y^Lake, and I headed up the west shore, passed through Kaslo, and took the road up the hill heading west, going upstream along a small creek. [it was almost dark when the rains came. The creek rose quickly, in places covering the road, so that I had to speculate on its exact location. It was one of those white knuckle situations, and it was a great relief to top out at V the old mine site called Retailack. {There was a level gravely spot just off the road, /opposite the old mine building. I backed and filled until my rig was level, then cooked supper and sacked out. Weird noises filtered through the sound of rain on the roof. was musical at times, and strangely human, like a ghost singing a sad lament. I slept poorly. [In the morning I stepped out of the vehicle, and stared down the deep ten=foot by ten-foot shaft I had unknow ingly parked beside. [^^retty close, huh?^/ said a voice at my elbow. was white-bearded and white=haired. He Called himself **Whlte Water Bert. aw ya come in last night. I was listening/ to �^O^sj’ORY ojlTHOUSE^ Norm Weis the radio — wondered if you was goinX/ to drive her in that hole.V/ Told me he lived up there ^e was a friendly sort. all alone “^i/liked to sing along with^he radio,X/"he said. He* J invite me to breakfast, but he’flZ^t an hour ago.\/ Said '^here werenVt no tall outhouses around -- try Sandon.XZ H Lihe gravel road south to Sandon rides the east bank of a considerable stream, now high and swift from the night'^s rain. What'^ left of Sandon is on the west bank. Only remote viewing was possible. ^t was nonetheless impressive. Fronting the buildings was a boardwalk and a \X>oard roadbuilt up of heavy timbers. For some distance, the road and the stream occupied the same spot. I scanned the far side with binoculars looking for unusual structures, then drove down the hill to New Denver, where *’Wiite Water Bert" had said there was a dandy museum. , ^he museum was tiny, but held fantastic, and some- times unbelievable information on Sandon. { The town began when Eli Carpenter and four others, calling themselves the\A6oble Five,'^ began mining gold, silver. and a lead ore called galena. was built in 1900, and soon the town had twenty-three hotels -- quite an unbelievable -149- �There were buildings on both sides of the creek, statistic. including a cigar factory! An Opera House! A brewery! The population hit TSatCat the peak, when the mining and skiing booms coincided. A big ski meet was held in 1925 on a slope claimed to be the second largest ski hill in North America. A number of fires removed most of the residences, ' and obviously most of the hotels, real or otherwise. Then the floods of 1957 reduced the town to the remnant visible today. Without doubt, tall outhouses existed here, but had either gone up in smoke or down the river. ^^rt Steele was only eighty air miles from Sandon, but 250 miles and half a day by road. A quick walk about the reconstructed town revealed some impressive structures, but no tall privies. I^arly a hundred buildings form a rough rectangle about a grassy court with a ban^^tand at the center. At one corner there is a gigantic waterwheel that was moved from Perry Creek. At the opposite comer is the reconstruction of the Northwest Mounted Police barracks. The reconstruction was under way, and I spent a pleasant afternoon watching two artisans tailor logs to a perfect fit. 7 �Norm Weis [J^e, the older of the two, wore a hard hat , while the younger, had long hair held in place by a head^2 Don, band. Quite an odd couple, but they worked marvelously well together. They used only the ■**tools of the time,**^like broad- and double-bitted axes, an adz or two, augers, hand saws, and cant hooks. Each log was trimmed, rolled in place, removed, retrimmed, and the process repeated until the log fell in place with only tiny gaps between. These were caulked later, as the original logs were caulked “ with a mixture of manure and mud. ^The museum, centrally located, held a wide variety of artifacts/^nd a complete histojy of the town. ^^treambed gold was found in the area, but placer In 1887, Indian trouble mining gave way to hyd^lic workings. developed, and a detachment of seventy-five Northwest Mounted Police arrived, under the leadership of Superintendent Samuel B Steele, to bring law and order. It was the first Mounty Post west of the Rockies, and the small town once called GalbraitlJ^s Ferry, took the name Steele in Sam SteeleVs honor. IjThe town hit its peak at the turn of the century. then faded as the minerals depleted. fifty people left in town. By 1940 there were only It was declared a istoric ^ite in 1961, and reconstruction began. I Although impressive, much of Fort Steele was con- trived. But five miles east, some of the original mining �S O^HOUSE Norm Weis equipment remained at a site once called Fisherville, later named Wild Horse. tI found an old shack, a flume, an ancient pickup truck with a bedstead for a tailgate, and pieces of old mining equipment scattered in all directions. Barren slopes marked the sites of the last hydraulic mining. (And up the hill from the old town, a grave stood surrounded by a battered picket fence. Growing from the center, a huge pine tree offered positive and genuine proof of the graveVs antiquity. 3 [old buildings respond to photographic efforts best during the first and last hours of daylight, when the sun lights the under eaves and throws long shadows to show relief. It was my practice to camp ovei^ight near photogenic sites in order to take advantage of the morning and evening light. (Each morning, after exposing a roll or two, I would continue my travels, on the lookout for a cafe that would offer a big breakfast. In British Columbia that generally means an Oriental cafe. Such cafes offer great Chinese or Japanese food. but most of them consider the cooking of eggs and the brewing of coffee as a compulsory exercise. �Norm Weis I Graving good old home cooking, I passed up three or four eating houses with Chinese logos, and finally, late in the morning, I foundPlaceXV The waitress, a young Chinese girl, took my order, served my coffee, and stood by while I took a sip. Noting my grimace, she explained^ 'v6offee rouzy.\/ It was -- so was the breakfast of burned spuds, dry toast and fried eggs that looked like my grandles. �[So far, the Canadian tour had failed to turn up the outhouses, or the stories that I had expected. My next stop was Nordegg, Alberta, just southwest of Edmonton. The usual ^<H^ell informed^/source had convinced me that I should drive the extra miles. Xj4t would be worth itX/he said. ^ordegg was a provincial prison, and had been for many years. I was stopped at the gate a mile from town. The guard wouldrlZt consider my request for a guided tour, and got a great laugh out of my reason for requesting it. He did, however, tell me that he had seen " personally a genuine two-story outhouse in Lundbreck, Alberta. bjs -tip would have been ignored had not been close to the route home. Lundbreck Calgary was also on the route, but obviously not worth an inquiry. However, I was greatly im pressed with the sight of Calgarj?^ bright clean buildings rising out of the plain. Like most Canadian Cities, it was remarkably -153- �Oj&THOUSE^ lean, with well groomed parks and nicely kept homes. I reached Lundbreck that evening braced for another disappointment, and indeed, I was once again ---------- disappointed. The two-story outhouse was gone. — /7 p Don Timmerman, Manager of the LONG HIM General Merchant No. 7, told me the sad story. IjDhe outhouse had been a dandy, with two doors the upper level, and four on the bottom. connected to the Windsor Hotel. At one time it was The ^otel had burned down. leaving the tall outhouse standing alone. t I (it attracted tourists, so Timmerman bought it for colno / from one of the partners had owned the ^otel, only , I to find that the other partner had earlier given the outhouse to the ^ark Jifepartment in Calgary. I wash<4; about to backtrack to Calgary and chance another disappointment. I It was late, so I planned to camp overnight art Lundbreck. In the meantime I could nose about town. IjDhe LONG_^^ ^tore has been in continuous operation for seventy-five years, and it still handles merchandise that most would consider antiques, like kerosene stable Interns and Alladin lamps for the living room. I asked the manager if the I No. 7 on the store meant it was one of seven chain stores -- , it^s just a number. -154- �T1(fO=sfORY Ol^HOUSE Norm Weis [_^xt to Store No. 7 are two very old buildings, freshly renovated, and freshly labeledvkXshopping Center -- M Oldest in the WestXJ/ I Timmerman was quite surprised to find that other tall outhouses existed. He had been under the impression that Vi^i^ was the only one in the world. He explained that the upper story was reserved for ladies and gentlemen. The lower floor, connected to the hotel bar, was reserved for miners and other less refined folk. He suggested that I stop by in a year or two and have a look at the reconstruction he had planned. It would cost a good deal more than the^jjfeS he originally planned to invest, bul^figured it would be good for business. (^ell, I would have to visit Calgary sometime in the future when my enthusiasm returned, and Lundbreck would still be el^fe. the route home. �year after my visit to Lundbreck, my spirits had revived, and a final plan of attack on the two^story outhouses of Alberta was perfected. The one^year wait was perhaps fortunate, since it gave Calgary a chance to situate its new ^quisition, and also Mr. Timmerman of Lundbreck a chance to finish his reconstruction. ^ust in case things didnVt work out as hoped, I planned to include in the tour/a visit to one of my old home towns in lowaltadlook at Flin Flon, Manitoba, and a weeks'^ fishing in one of my favorite Ronge, Saskatchewan. f My early years of teaching were spent in the small Northern Iowa town of Lake Mill^ TiSiaaB. The town was percent Lutheran and 'Hihyty pei^cent Norw^ian. combination that allowed no dancing by anyone anywhere, and no drinking or smoking by school teachers. I used to walk three miles �Norm Weis into the country to smoke, and would drive fifty miles to buy a beer. The school coach and I solved the smoking problem by puffing away in the dark recesses of the school^ boiler room, where we could use either of two exits. Within a year we had a smokersV group so large we had to elect officers. ^Ithough the town had certain very strict rules, there was no ban on humor. Norwegians enjoy the down-to= A A earth variety, like the old speaker in the outhouse ploy. / My good friend and hunting partner, Bif ^pronounced i J *Bife*7 Bolstad, was one of the prime movers of the stunt. Bif worked at a gas station that offered[only^outside plumbing. He also had some hell-raising relatives that were mechanically inclinj^^ and game for anything. They were the sort to wire your Model A Ford^ throttle wide open, or set a mink trap on the floorboards -- even put a dead carp under the seat cushion M in the heat of summer. Apparently Bif got his idea about the outhouse speaker from a traveling salesman, and/only)needed)to mention it to his relatives and members of the Saturday night poker gang, of which I was a welcome contributor. In short order, an old radioA record player with attached mike was located. It had been used to announce dances in a nearby town of different ethnic and moral character. ^he speaker was stripped out and slung under the seat of the two'=holer, and the radio proper hidden behind the outhouse. Finally, a long wire was strung to the mike in the front room of the gas station, right next to the cash register. -157- �Norm Wei on all of our friends/ until the word got around town -- then we had to pick on strangers. It H didnX/t work so well on the standup traffic, but brought an instant response from the sit^own customers. We used to sit for hours on weekends waiting for prospects, especially and wife combinations. As soon as the wife headed for the outhouse, we would explain to the husband about the mike and loudspeaker. He would always give the go ahead. and get as big a kick as any of us. I^s soon as Bif figured the lady was well situated, he\/d pick up the mike and say, V/Lady, could you move over 7- ]\Vrn working down here and you are in my light !XZ / The reaction was always outstanding, and when word got out, business increased. Husbands would drive miles to H A N I TO g A FL.KZ -Flow lin Flon, Manitoba is one of a kind.^^amed for old Flinerton Flonerty, wfaasae the leading character in a book owned by one of the early prospectors fchrt searched the area for mineralization. A number of metals were found in high concentration. and the town that sprouted had to face the immediate problem of building on solid granite, pre-cambrian bedrock. y— -158- �Tifo-S'/oS 0]6tH0US l^ome OUthous Norm Weis es were built on elevated cribs but one maiws great idea about combination sewers and sidewalks made a working sewer system possible. / onc cao4 From each house, a sewer pipe ran slightly down hill, surrounded by a long wooden box about four feet square. filled with insulating material. The tops of the long boxes were stoutly planked as elevated boardwalks that seldom needed to be shoveled after a snowfall. The boxes from each house joined trunklines that connected every house and store in town with the sewage plant located at the low point. In some places, where sewers crossed roads, dynamite had been used to penetrate the hard rock. I Outside of town, outhouses were common -- so common I__ M that prefabricated outhouses, made of particle board, were �1^^ — I LaRonge, straight west of Flin Flon, but in the neighboring ^F^rovince of Saskatchewan, did not go the sewer2. sidewalk route, although much of the town was built on solid rock. They stayed with the outhouse out back made of particle board, of course. [vftien I first visited Ls^Ronge a dozen years ago, the street was part gravel and part rounded humps of solid glacier polished granite. town. For years there were no flush toilets in Then a new Government building was constructed, with -159- CL �P-S^ORY O^HOUS. septic tank and shiny white porcelain flush stool. Indians, mostly Cree and Chippewa, would travel miles to trip the lever and watch things disappear. (rhe snowfall in the northern plains Canada was not great enough to warrant tall outhouses, and there was no point in searching about the town. planned. So I went fishing, as �A week later I headed south and west for Calgary, looking forward to a visit Heritage Park, where the two— story outhouse was said to be located. heritage Park is big and beautiful, and everything works. The paddlewheel steamer paddles, and the old locomotive makes the rounds. I hurried past a dozen interesting stores to confirm the existence of the tall outhouse. /And there it was in all its glory a two=door, <_ Ai A ’ four^oler on top of a four-door eight=holer, topped with a A I A cupola -- and on top of that, blowing in the breeze, the H / Canadian Flag! I It was a dandy. All painted up to match the hotel, with the upper floor connected to the second floor hall by a catwalk. all banistered and beautiful! But the light was an excuse to look the ^ark over while the sun slowly M moved to a more favorable position. j I rode the paddlewheel steamer and watched others wrong scull their shells and paddle canoes. -160- The train spewed coal �Norm Weis smoke and blew a steam whistle that brought memories rushing home. ■(vo^ They were baking bread in the bakery, and I ate a slice while watching the smithy shoe a horse. Constable Blake, in Royal Canadian Mounty red, told stories in front of the constabulary. I admired the pelts being baled at the Hudson Bay Fort, and had a s^sparilla in the hotel. ^_V^en the light was right, I set about photograph ing the two=.story outhouse. The flag was missing! It had A been placed there as a prank, and I passed up the chance to photograph it. pressive. Even without the flag, the outhouse was im- Xt worked — it even smelled! / V't y H ' plaque at the side explained its history. After the Windsor Hotel in Lundbreck burned down in 1963, Walter Supeta ^the other partner^ donated the outhouse to the Heri tage Park Society. A few days later, I stood by the reconstructed two — story outhouse in Lundbreck. pon Timmerman had followed the design quite faithfully, but something was lacking. was a shade too wide, and the lumber was too fresh. It The cat walks were missing, and worst of all, it lacked the proper bouquet ^n the long drive home, I considered my long twelve— year search for two^story outhouses and the memorable -161- (S'P �Norm Weis stories. I was confident that the chore was complete, and looked forward to closing my notebooks, parking my vehicle, and setting to work developing and printing the many nega tives I had exposed. ^■^I^the mail that had accumulated while I was gone, there was a letter from a Canadian friend by the name of Peter Byl. He had located a three=.story twenty="seat outhouse A A in Newfoundland! No matter how many I tracked down, there would always be one more to investigate. This one was too far away, and I had already traveled too far. I would pass on ---'■''^i^en again — the outhouse in Newfoundland ——^ell -< a 4 & a < � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Norman Weis Manuscripts Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1971-1987 Description An account of the resource A collection of manuscripts by Casper College professor Norman Weis. This collection includes manuscripts of: Ghost Towns of the Northwest: Known and Unknown The Starduster Two-Story Outhouse Helldorados Each manuscript contains written in edits by Norman Weis Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Norman Weis Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Norm Weiss Manuscripts and Photographs, CCA 10.2003.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Searchable PDF Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2003.01_Weis_Manuscripts Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Manuscript Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Two-Story Outhouse Draft Manuscript Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <div class="element-text five columns omega"> <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> </div> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1987 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Norman Weis Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Norm Weiss Manuscripts and Photographs, CCA 10.2003.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2003.01_Weis_TwoStoryOuthouse_DraftManuscript Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Searchable PDF https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/de6d53b987d3dfc35af891d8b87945af.pdf e24efcb49997b407a569f5abb1ca1917 PDF Text Text Weis, TwosStory Outhouse FM p. 1 TWO=STORI ODTfiOUS^ �gram BOOKS BT AUTHOR All About Grizzly Bears All About the WhitesTailed Deer Ghost Towns of the Northwest Belldorados« Ghosts and Camps ^e Starbuster the Old Southwest �< - - ------------------x^'Weie, Two=Story Outhoosei FM p. 3 - A- Id^thearted Tour of the West 0n u Search for '7’k, << Two=story Outhouse^TV-— Norman D» Weis PHOTOGRAPHS BT THE AUTHOR The CAXTON PRINTERS, Ltd. Caldwell, Idaho, 83605 1987 �Weie, TwosStory Ottthousei ^1987 by Norman D. Weis Casper, Wyoming AU Righ^Reserved �Weis, Two=Story duthousei TO p. 5 To Mike Herbison Who thought this book should be entitled, Early American Evacuation With special thanks to Jon Brady and Len Brakke L �Weis, TwosStozy Outhouse^ �Weis, TwoaiStory Outhouse^ COMTBITS of Illustrations Introduction Part I ------------- ..................................... ................................. .................................................... Wyoming Dillon Bncampment Horse Shoe Springs . Fort Laramie Kirwin .................................................................. ............................................ Bonneville Lost Cabin .................................................... Dale City Part II pj- Montana Jardine Virginia City Ringling Castle ............................................... ............................................. Zortman, Landusky and Aahland The Good Old Days ^^Sid^Minnesota^ . ............... Part III Colorado ■■ - rl Pearl Caribou Crested Butte .................................... Lake City ■" ................................... Lost Springs . ............................................. Black Hills Area Myersville Part V X Tcms Terlingua ................................... ..................................................................................... �Weis, Two=«tory Outhouse, Part VI -7 Arizona Oatman .............................................. Part VII ~ Nevada ....................................... Gold Point Goldfield Ione, Berlin and Grantsville .......... Reno Part VIH;^ California Johnsville ■:<Jaffli6on^ ..................................... Camptonville Part^ ............................ Qregeg .............................................. Cornucopia Homestead Part_X J- 1^0 Wallace and Murray Burke Silver City ................................................... Wyoming Part XI ................................... Teapot Dome The Pedro Mountains Independence Rock .......................... ................................... Signor, Rongia Fort Bridger Part XII J- Utah •" *** rd Promontory Part XIII ................................................ «... ......................................................................... Canada British Columbia ---------- «-------------Biondel Betallack^ Port Steele Alberta Nordegg .................................................................. Lundbreck Manitoba Flin Flon Saskatchewan La Ronge Alberta Calgary INDEX ..................................... �LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS O 6 (3) Elevated oathouee in Dillon, Wyoming Remains of the Ferris=Raggarty Mine Remains of a two=story outhouse G) Grant Jones (S) Part of FerrissHaggarty to fiacaaqjment tramway © All the modem conveniences ...................................................... Reconstructed two=story outhouse, Encampment Things are quiet now Three Mile Hog Ranch ............................................... .............................................................................................................. <s> Old wood building at Three Mile (S) Outhouse made from an old potato vent Wolf Mine at Kirwin, Wyoming (S) ................................ ...................................................................................... Tumlum gallows wheel structure ................................... & Amelia EarhartJ^s cabin Quicksand ford leading to Bonneville, Wyoming ....................... Caboose in quicksand of Bad Water Creek Qny Typieal Residence in Boxineville .............................. ....................................... Outhouse in the middle of Rock Creek? . ............................ .. Combination water tower and ice house Tall structure in Jardine .................. Deserted mill in Jardine Chinese st^e in Virginia City, Montana Elevated outhouse behind dry goods store . .............. ......................... ........................................... Reconstructed nonfunctional outhouse in Nevada City, Montana Nevada,City Hotel �Weis* Tw^Story Guthouse^ List of 311ttstrations_^ Bobbers Roost Bannacl^ first jail ................................... BannacU^iZs second jail ........................................ The Meade Hotel in Bannack, Montana •••••••.••• Broadwa^ter, Montana .................... ......................................... .. Rock waterfalls from natatorium ..................................................................... Desertedk residence in Ringling, Montana . Catholic church in Ringling . .......................... Building fronting Main Street in Castle, Montana Remnant^ of the Cumberland Mine .................... ................... .................................... Overview of Zortman, Montana Zortmaidk/s jail has seen better times The Ruby Mine Ore cars lined up at Ruby Mine ....................................... Extensive trestle Old frames the not so old Old rocking chair in Landusky Pearly Coloradg^izzled ....................... ........................................................................................................... One of ^he mines near Pearl ..................................................................... Chlly stout structures can withstand hi^ winds in Caribou Caribou Mine ................................................................ . ................ Snows were deep in Caribou Twosstory outhouse in Crested Butte, Colorado ........... Ihclosed walkway in Crested Butte . City Hall had classy architecture ..................................... \jTnside puthous^^at the rear of City Hall ...................................................... �Weis* Two^^tory ^thoui^ List of illustrations Astronau'^s summer home in Crested Butte A three=wa7.outhouse Masonic hall masterpiece Masonic hall two=^story outhouse* Crested Butte ..................................... Graves of* five men said to be cannibalized Alfred Packeis/s victims .......................................... Memorials Union Grill* University of Colorado Surface works of the Sunrise Mine Longest garage in the world ............................................................. Main Street* Cascade Springs* South Dakota Bowling alley added to rear of saloon Bathhouse=Hotel combination ....................................... Tarpaper=covered shaft head building View •of Tinton* South Dakota ................................................................................... ......................................................................................................... Community hall is residence of a mountain lion ........................................................... Home of Anna B. Tailant ....................................... Old jail in Bochford* South Dakota ................................ ................................................ Standby mine and mill Alta* Lodi mine and mill ................................................. Deserted minei^ cabin in Myersville* South Dakota The main drag of Myersville Myersvill^s finest home A deserted skeet house Adobe outhouse in Terlingua* Texas Head frame of Mine No. 2^5 ............................................ .. ........................................... Bock fsom which mine]M4 cabin was constructed Well worn photo of two-story outhouse .................................................... �Vela, TwgaCtor7 ftttkMM pag. < The only unusual outhouse in Oatman, Arizona Wild burros visit Oatman . Overvlev of Oatman, Arizona Powder house outhouse in Gold Point, Nevada ........................................................... Substantial building in Goldfield, Nevada ^7) Ssmta Fe club of Goldfield, Nevada ........... ........... ......... Charlie Ceechini of Goldfield Bemains of Grantsville, Nevada ••..... . ....................... Stout adobe outhouse Bill and Tom James, of Numbolt, Nevada The ruins of Numbolt Open door of Numbolt outhouse Mohawk Mill, to the east of Johnsville, California Hotel aihd firehouse in Johnsville . . ............................... .. ............................ The longest singlexspan wooden covered bridge in the U.S. jTTb. Medk/s in Camptonville, California . ..................... .. Small version of the Pelton wheel ............................... Tiny jail seldom saw service Classy mine?</8 house in Cornucopia, Oregon . Nine structures adjacent to the Coulter Tunnel . Large schoolhouse in Homestead, Oregon ................................................................................. lousing for single miners of the looestead Mine Company I i6 �1^is, Two^^ory Outhousei List of illustrations I ® Looking upstream along Canyon Creek Typical creek*drop attached outhouse ...»...•• George Gulc^ outhousesbridge combination Rear Tiew'of bridge=outhouse Bridge portion of the combo A. creek drop, eelf=flushing outhouse .............................................................................. \jSneaky ,Pet^/ model And whene is the exit? •••..•• ............................................• Hasonicthall* Silver City, Idaho Overview, of Silver City, Idaho Idaho Botel is still\>ln busines^ fl£} Stoddard residence in Silver City //^ Baling «ire holds this outhouse together Walkway gives a oue=door option Walk=thz*pugh style tall house �Weis, Two=^ory Guthouse List of Illustrations Fpage 5’ Although patched* this outhouse is well kept and still used Therms a message here somewhere Vater tank in Teapot, Wyoming ....................................... Teapot never amounted to much Old wooden oil'pumping rig ................................................................... Iron replaced •the wooden zd.g parts Old oil pump in Ferris* Wyoming ..................................... .......................................... Sand dunes will bury Ferris Headquarters* of Little Maa Mine ................................................................................. Kock cavalry ham of Fort Washakie Reconstructed officer^ quarters ...................... View of elk through Crystal Mountain .................................................... Central Pacific and Union Pacific tracks met at Promontory White Water Bert lives in Ketallack, B. C .................. ................ ....... Floods wipe out streets of Sandon, Fort Steel^^s museum duplicates Wasa Hotel ........................................................... The'oiong hair and the hard hawork well together Another log is squared for fitting Perry Creek water wheel (j^ Oddly roofed outhouse in Fort Steel^B^f^. ..................................... �Weis, TwosStory fluthousel List of illustrations marker Fh in Wild Horse, B« C« ...................................................... Long Him store in Lundbreck, Alberta ................................................. A '€(^hopping centei^n LnndbreckAlberta ..................................... Wainwright Hotal'^, Heritage Park, in Calgary, Alberta Worl(}<4 finest two^story outhouse .......... ............................................ Ererything functions in Heritage Park Replica of Hudson Bay Compan;^ Rocky Mountain Bouse Constable of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Don Timmerman rebuilt the original Windsor Hotel ............... ........... ............................................... ^15' �IOI<I 5 . .4 Elevated ^thouse built on a log crib in Dillon, Wyoming, The outhouse collapsed about 1960. courtesy Encampment Museum The remains of the Ferris^Haggarty Mine just north of A Dillon, Vtyoming. The small stream at the base of the building flows over chunks of copper ore, bringing out its bright blue color. Ms', (o �I COO = Shti'ci <aXP S Remains of a two^story outhouse that was once connected to the second floor of the largest hotel in Dillon, Wyo ming. The roof^ike structure at mid=:height is actually A catwalk that gave access to (4. the collapsed portion of the hotelVs second floor. functioned. Both levels of the outhouse Note the single outhouse on a log crib to ^ourtesy Encampment Museunu^feZT 14 Grant Jones, the short=^lived<hard=drinking Editor of the --------- -—------------------------- -X Dillon Doublejack.Plagto^ourtesy Encampment Museum Part of the Ferris=Haggarty to Encampment Tramway, the A e- ' longest in the world at the time of its construction. All the modem conveniences. Notice the ’^^*^^ded to osekt’ Msp ; explain a later improvement. f>. 1^ f The reconstructed two=story outhouse built on the ^useum grounds in Encampment^about twenty miles east of its Ms|) f.fl original location at Dillon, Wyoming. Things are quiet now in Encampment, Wyoming. At the *^hree Mile Hog Ranch,’^ach crib, or small room, had its own door. ' Inside there was room for bed and walkway. I (>• Calamity Jane is documented as having been one of the gals at *4hree Mile.*^ 'Old wood building next to the grout crib house Mile”^as probably the saloon that attracted the soldiers from the dry grounds of Fort Laramie, -3a 5-4^ I f' �Hot lead on a two=story outhouse cooled rapidly when the tall, but single-floor outhouse was found to have been A made from an old potato vent. The Wolf Mine at Kirwin, WyomingAhas been out of use for Note the coarse slab siding, nearly Q^e—hund-red years. and the wooden rain gutter. Tumlum or Tumalum Mine had its gallows wheel structure enclosed -- a tribute to the severe winters in the area. - H Construction on Amelia Earh^^rt'^J^s cabin was stopped abruptly when word of her disappearance arrived. Note the propeller windvane, a small tribute to her profession. •^^~~The quicksand ford leading to Bonneville, Wyoming. Caboose in the clutches of the quicksand of Bad Water 'I Creek, ■^trnarfy^ourtesy e/jdT. Border.^— '“7 yg’----------- "------------- Typical residence in Bonneville is built of old ties C and trestle timbers. ---- /Deleted}^- A two-story outhouse? Right in the middle of the deserted town of Rock Creek? No, itVs not an outhouse -- itVA a combination water tower/— ice house. ' A r Tall structure photographed in Jardine about 196^ was not investigated at the time. In 1984 it was gone. the wood crib on top of the log crib. Note �€ne of several dtisertud mlllj in Jagdiiw.< One of several deserted mills in Jardine. It is visited by horses more often than by humans. ' A pl, ♦ J business fron.^ by well= worn hoar<:wai;k.'j)fR £7-rni-lan.pgaot!;'3o''^verted to (electrlcity in the town of Virginia City, Montana. Elevated outhouse behind the tore has lost contact with the stord^/s rear entrance. Note the second outhouse to the left for ground level use. Reconstructed non^functional twoastoay outhouse Nevada City. Montana, has been a problem to hotel owners. I Visitors insist on using it. Nevada City Hotel was once the Salisbury Stage ^tation of Ruby, Montana. ^9. p-3^ Robbers Roost, originally Pete DalyVs roadhouse, became the |angout for outlaws working the Virginia City to Bannack road. s, Built in 1^62, BannackO^ first jail offered maxjJLn security minimum ventilation. Bannack^ second jail had bars made from straightened wagon wheel rima^ Hotel^had high ceilings and �Broadwater, Montana^-was big and beautiful, and attract-^ the elite from around the world. Only the rock waterfalls remain the ^^atatorium at Broadwater, where Johnny Weismuller learned to swim. One of the many deserted residences that stand in Ring^ Montana, once the home of the famous Ringling Circus folk. CathoJ^ic ^hurch ■_for Ringling, Montan^now offers shelter resident flock of pigeons. Only a portion of the many buildings that fronted Main Castle, Montan^have survived the hostile winters. J A few remnants of the Cumberland Mine, biggest producer l^in Castle, Montana. overview of Zortman, Montan^business district, with [^aloon at right, and salvation on the hill. ZortmarfYs jail has seen better times — but they still [keep the door padlocked! The Ruby Mine stretches over a considerable distance. V^ste material was simply dumped in the ravine. Ore cars are still lined up at the entrance to the Ruby Mine at Ruby Gulch, Montana. �CiU Extensive trestle made a level connection between^ine ^dit and Mill at Ruby Gulch, Montana. frames the not so old in Landusky, Montan^^) This old chair, made with loving care, and often repaired, ^ocks gently in the wind/^n a porch in Landusky, Pearl, Colorado, a town that grew on speculation, then TV r , oJr (jj-ke a faulty firecracker, fi«led,rather than boomed. One of the mines near Pear was mostly stock sales and promotion rather than sweat and pay dirt. Only the stoutest structures can withstand the high winds *—in Caribou, Colorado. Caribou Mine was the richest of the half-dozen profitable ►V't 11/ a rq Sliver mines that took $20in precious metal from the ground. ^^^Snows were deep in Caribou. Roomers in the two rock hotels of Caribou often had to enter and leave by way of second= A floor windows. Note late July snowbanks in distance. This two^story outhouse, connected to the Masonic Mall in ^0 H'S. p- Crested Butte, Colorado, was the first such structure to be found functional and still in regular use. Enclosed walkway^ to outhouses were common in Crested Butte Hs, e- (0(3 sometimes ex^nding one hundred feet7)' �City Hall had classy architecture at the front and next -photo f43r rca-rvinsw— : the rear of the City Hall we find a two^story ns ide outhouse.'^ Oiie of our first astronauts built this summer home below the ski slopes of Crested Butte, Colorado. semblance to a re^^try vehicle. Note the re a little used saloon and dance hal^offered inside access from both floors, and outside ground level access to the addendum. look at Masonic Mall masterpiece shows upper level of: the bi-level outhouse can be reached by covered stair. K last look at the Masonic ^all two^tory outhouse in 7^ Crested Butte, Colorado. posted at the upper floor: That'^s the one with a sign ’^STyTHING OVER EIGHT POUNDS IjMUST BE LOWERED BY ROPE. ^Near the Slumgullion mud slide south of Lake City, Colora one Alfred E. Packer. 3 Marker at grave site listSkthe edible victims of Alfred E Packer. �A 3J (@- students showed their opinion of the cAow at the Memorial Union ^rill at the University of Colorado by Hating in an appropriate name. 15, J’. '^5 Surface works of the Sunrise MineSunrise, WyomingA make up only a part of the equipment needed for subsi- j^nce mining. The longest garage in the world claims to hold sixty-five Cars, but has only forty—odd doors. Main Street of Cascade Springs, South Dakota^hoIds the h_ Allen Bank,^Mercantile, and/hidden under the trees, a ^loon=bowling alley combination. Bowling alley added to rear of saloon utilized small pins and grapefruit^sized balls one of the first duck pin otel combination was built beside small hot A town builder Allen hoped would outdo the larger hot springs to the north. Ms, p r^overed shaft head building was headquarters and first stage concentrator for the Rusty Mine. Ns. p' view t^Bseeigh well shaded town of Tinton, South Dakot^ shows most residences to be covered with red tarpaper. �Community ^all had most windows boarded over, but one window, covered with chicken wire, had been broken through, giving access to the towi4^ only resident -a mountain lion. Home of Anna B. Tailant, early visitor to the Black Hills and long-time teacher and postmistress. ^3 is. Old jail in Rochford, South DakotaA was lined with steel plate'^with brick inside and rock outside. /. I. Standby ^line and ^ill at^east edge of Rochford, is now so rotted that snooping about is hazardous, especially on the trestles and stairways. ^^-Qlta Lodi ^ine and ^ill near Myersville, South Dakota(^ A long deserted mine^<Zs cabin in Myersvill^/f\^ South Dakota. A view down the main drag of Myersville. Myersville'^ finest home, where the 1884 book, ^Things Worth Knowing was found in the attic. The two=story outhouse that the author drove miles to see turned out to be a deserted skeet house. Adobe outhouse served the local school kids. Building in background was the mansion of Howard E. Perry, prime mover of Terlingua, Texas. �1 (jja Head frame of Mine No. 24^ust east of Terlingua, is Ms. framed by doorway of minei?</s cabin. Rock from which mine^\ys cabin was constructed was more than the deposit of mercuryy|in the mine Well worn photo of a two^story outhouse that hung in the VI hotel at Oatman, Arizona. The photo carried no label or information, and no one knew where the outhouse originally existed. The only unusual outhouse in Oatman The rock crib was unique. . f’- The wild burros visit Oatman every afternoon for a hand^ out of popcorn and candy. Ove review of Oatman, Arizona, showing quartz outcrop above town. Such outcrops meant mineralization, and acted as a magnet to prospectors. Powder house outhouse of Gold Point, Nevada, source of [a variety of stories. Although Goldfield, Nevad^is not entirely deserted, a number of very substantial building^like this fourcstory brick and stone hotel, have been long vacant. �Ct S>< I lDo - Santa Fe Club of Goldfield, Nevad^has catered to miners for eighty years. Business was good when miners could trade chunks of'^igh graded for drinks. ie Cecchini, the ranking old-timer " of Goldfield, and story teller extraordinary. Mill ruins on the left, mess hall and kitchen on the right with old brick schoolhouse at mid=distance, make up the /I remains of Grantsville, Nevada. outhouse manages an upright stance in spite of losing two walls. Note tall vent for odor-free operation. Bill^James, and T. H. 4Tom)^ James, guardians of Humbolt, Nevad^history. Somewhere among these ruins of Humbolt was the saloon where a shoot but left no survivors. The open door of this Humbolt outhouse invites, the sign denies. & Use this facility with mixed feelings. Mohawk Mill lies to the east of Johnsville, California. Sixty stamps of 600 pounds lifted eight inches and dropped in turn, crushing 150 tons of ore per day. /^otel and firehouse in the town of Johnsville. Town was named after William Johns, superintendent of combined mining operations. �The longest single-span wooden covered bridge in the United States, and probably the world. Structure was lared a California Historical Landmark. ''C" {TbiTn rom -^lldorados, Gho^s ^d Camp.s 'TO Southwest. O.’^^ee^ combination grocery, cafe, bar and court served the public for seventy^five years in Ms. Camptonville, California. Small version of the Pelton wheel displayed on monument Monument was erected by the hell-raisA ing EJ Clampus Vitus Brotherhood. in Camptonville. Is. J)« JO? Hasp 4s. f- ’o') and bolt locking system. ___ M lassy littlel ^inei</^ house Is. apparently used a nut even classier 1^0 vacation home, Cornucopia, Oregon, now an sported a diamond window _and outside stairway to upper floor. j^^ine structures adjacent to the Coulter Tunnel, where ice^^ Icold air and ice=cold water pour forth. \s. J) Large schoolhouse )'ln5'CA,’ 45. 11^ |o Homestead, Oregon, evidences the great number of families that once lived in the now deserted company town. fining halls. pastlmeJ^^and probably bunkhouses for single Iminers of the Homestead Mine Company. �= ) Looking upstream along Canyon Creek<4see text for^a more Ms. descriptive name^ in the town of Burke, Idaho. Peaked roof is schoolhouse. Typical creek-drop attached outhouse common to most homes Ms. 1)^ along the waterway, The resident ^regularity was public knowledge, of course. The George Gulch outhouse-bridge combination of Burke Idaho. It may be the only such structure in existance. Rear view of bridge-outhouse implies a community use by esidents of several homes. The bridge portion of the combo is wide enough and stout enough to handle cars and light trucks. □o. self-flushing outhouse required a small p, lAc diversion dam to course water under the drop zone. no ts. p, 1^1 TheVl^neaky PetdC/model is guaranteed to provide the ultimate in privacy. Just where the back door once led is a mystery. And where is the exit? Ms Ghost Towns of the Northwest. Masonic all of Silver City, Idaho, straddles Jordan Creek. Note the attached outhouses that drop into the creek. , 1^3 Overview of Silver City, Idaho, looking north. The Idaho Hotel is at center left, butcher shop, LeonarcK/s Store and Barber Shop line up on the near right. �I uJd - Idaho Hotel is still H3. offering guided tours and refreshments. P' Fanciest residence in Silver City was the Stoddard house. Stoddard was a mine investor, sawmill owner , and rancher. Baling wire holds the splayed bottom of this tall ou^ Ms . house together. Ms > Walkway to outhouse may have been wider at one time. it gives 1^4 Now pThis walk-through style tall house is behind the tin shop and newspaper office. Proximity to the ereek, which runs under the Masonic Mall just behind, made the annual spring ^leanout a cinch. Well kept ^nd still usec^^uthouse / has been patched and nJ . /2d. ^epatched with whatever material was at hand. I3.C s a message here somewhere. paint job on the water tank was meant to lure ^uyers of lots in the proposed town of Teapot, Wyoming. leapot never amounted to much — a house or two, a number of oil wells, and some basic refining equipment. �s<?/ aJ2i as Old wooden oil pumping rig is one of the last in exis Ms r |3. t^nce. Note the hefty''talking beatn^that pivots on _the top of the vertical timber. Here the wheels Ms, |s’. are of iron, but have the same design used in older wooden variety. Pumping station hastened oil from the well to the refine Long deserted, this old pump stands in Ferris, Wyomin^z^ a town that was once called Sinclair Station 3. Photograph was taken from a partially stabilized sand dune that once approached town on a southwest wind. It will move again, and the houses of Ferri^ Wyomin^/fy will be buried. Headquarters of the'^Little Man Minev as it became known Ms. p. after the discovery of a mummified Indian baby in a nearby cave. Rock Cavalry bam of Fort Washakie, now a garage for the still harbors a ghost that walks the wood floors in cavalry boots, according to some of the men that work there. but many buildings, like this officersV quarters built when the ^rmy took over, can be found reconstructed at Hs. !>■ the site kVjO/tJSt �5 , View of distant elk as seen Crystal Mountain. The pure diamond had a tendency to Iftagnify the ell^ image., walked up to bleed it. After shooting the elk, Bridger X^fhet dum elk was twenty=five miles awayt/ Central Pacific and Union Pacific tracks met at Promontory Hs. jx 14^ by negotiation, but ^rao/es ran past each other without joining for hundrec^ of miles. 'white Water Bert" lives alone amid the vast remains of a deserted mine and mill in Retailack, British Columbia. Frequent floods on Carpenter Creek wiped out the boardwalks Ms. f/ /S'd and dock-like streets of Bandon, B^. A the remainder. Fires took most of Fort Steel^J^ central attraction is [useum built to duplicate the original Wasa Hotel. hair and the hard ha^work well together, re constructing the 1887 Royal Canadian Mounted Police barracks, using only the tools of the time. Finished ortion of the post is in background. Broad axi for fitting. No chain saws were allowed, and all holes were drilled by hand without benefit of electricity. Fort Steeles water tower can be seen in the background. Oax �twenty-five miles to Fort Steele as an example of early utilization of ... n 1^^ water power in the mining effort. Oddly roofed outhouse in Fort Steele, B.^ C^is securely anchored by four posts. Old shops along Main Street are in the background. It was only a tiny sapling a few years after the child was buried. Now the tree occupies the complete grave site In k/ild Horse, BX. Owner of the Long Him Store in Lundbreck, Alberta, bemoaned Hs. /SV the loss of the two=story outhouse he purchased as a sales gimmick. He found it had been donated earlier to the Heritage Park in Calgary. In Lundbreck, Alberta, this gas station and store con stitute a'^hopping center. Wainwright Hotel of Heritage Park in Calgary, Alberta, was said to have the old Lundbreck two=^story outhouse attached to-the rear. Ms. 1^=0 two-story outhouse, a two=door four^holer A A A over a four~door eight-holer, with a cupola on top. And A A eve^thing works! Everything functions in Heritage Park, including stern wheelers and steam engines. You can even d baked breast from the old bakery. fresh �Replica of the Hudson Bay Company'^ Rocky Moun- tain House has been built on the grounds of Heritage ^Park. Outside of the rebuilt Banff barracks of the Royal Canadian Mounted Policy ^'^^onstable from years ^st answers questions and spins a few yams. Don Timmerman rebuilt the original Windsor Hotel two= story outhouse quite faithfully. It stands in its original location, minus, of course, the hotel it originally served. Now it serves the public, and brings a few customers into the Long Him Store No. 7. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Norman Weis Manuscripts Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1971-1987 Description An account of the resource A collection of manuscripts by Casper College professor Norman Weis. This collection includes manuscripts of: Ghost Towns of the Northwest: Known and Unknown The Starduster Two-Story Outhouse Helldorados Each manuscript contains written in edits by Norman Weis Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Norman Weis Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Norm Weiss Manuscripts and Photographs, CCA 10.2003.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Searchable PDF Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2003.01_Weis_Manuscripts Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Manuscript Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Two-Story Outhouse Contents Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <div class="element-text five columns omega"> <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> </div> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1987 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Norman Weis Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Norm Weiss Manuscripts and Photographs, CCA 10.2003.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2003.01_Weis_TwoStoryOuthouse_Contents Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Searchable PDF https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/16ea4aae35d4b17e898c9af19780c09b.pdf dad6a098559376aef4742d06b8ecd412 PDF Text Text PHOTO DESCRIPTION FOR "TWO'STORY OUTHOUSE, etc. by: Norm Weis Explanation of Gode: A means absolutely necessary to story; B means better use it, it supports story; C cautionary - would like to see it used; D Delete if you need to. Also: L Keep it large; M Medium S Small is preferred will do; None of the rules are unbreakable, except pictures designated "A" SHOULD be used. Elevated ^thouse built on a log crib in Dillon, V^oming The outhouse collapsed about 1960. Photo courtesy Encampment Museum. 2. B,L The remains of the Ferris'^Haggarty Mine just north of Dillon, Wyoming. The small stream at the base of the building flows over chunks of copper ore, bringing out its bright blue color. hno/ui �Photo Norm Weis Remains of a two'story outhouse that was once connected to the second floor of the largest hotel in Dillon, Wyo ming. The roo^^ike structure at mid'height is actually the collapsed portion of the catwalk that gave access to the hotel's second floor. Both levels of the outhouse functioned. Note the single outhouse on a log crib to the right. Photo courtesy Encampment Museum. Grant Jones, the short=live<J^hard=drinking ^ditor of the B. M, ^^^llon Doublejack.Photo courtesy Encampment Museum. Part of the Ferris-Haggarty to Encampment Tramway, the longest in the world at the time of its construction. ^^All the modern conveniences. M or S Notice the "S" added to a later improvement. The reconstructed two-story outhouse built on the Museum grounds in Encampment^about twenty miles east of its original location at Dillon, Wyoming. Things are quiet now in Encampment, Wyoming. At the ’’Three Mile Hog Ranch, had its own door. each crib, or small room. Inside there was room for bed and walkway. Calamity Jane is documented as having been one of the gals ________ at ’’^ree Mile.’’^________________________ __ _______________ / ^Id wood building next to the grout crib house at Three V L or mJ Mile**^as probably the saloon that attracted the soldiers from the dry grounds of Fort Laramie. �Photo Description Norm Wei Hot lead on a two»story outhouse cooled rapidly when the lx tall, but single floor outhouse was found to have been made from an old potato vent. The Wolf Mine at Kirwin, Wyoming has been out of use for nearly one hundred years. Note the coarse slab siding, and the wooden rain gutter. Tumlum or Tumalum Mine had its gallows wheel structure enclosed a tribute to the severe winters in the area. ______________ n___________________________ _____________________________ Construction on Amelia Earh^^rt’s cabin was stopped abruptly when word of her disappearance arrived. Note the propeller windvane, a small tribute to her profession. The quicksand ford leading to Bonneville, Wyoming. Caboose in the clutches of the quicksand of Bad Water Creek. Photo courtesy of J. T. Border. Typical residence in Bonneville is built of old ties and trestle timbers. 18 Deleted A two story outhouse? Right in the middle of the deserted town of Rock Creek? No, it's not an outhouse -- it's a combination water tower/ ice house. Tall structure photographed in Jardine about 196^ was not investigated at the time. In 1984 it was gone. the wood crib on top of the log crib. Note �'23. \ K7 M ) One of several deserted mills in Jardine. It is visited by horses more often than by humans. (EDITOR; Use only one, 22 or 23.) Chinese store and other places of business front by well worn boardwalks lit by old gas lamps now converted to electricity in the town of Virginia City, Montana. Elevated outhouse behind the Dry Goods Store has lost L or M f f contact with the store’s rear entrance. Colo/ Note the second outhouse to the left for ground level use. Reconstructed non functional two story outhouse of Nevada ( L or -My City, Montana, has been a problem to hotel owners. Visitors insist on using it. ’’Nevada City Hotel” was once the Salisbury Stage Station I or SJ of Ruby, Montana. Robbers Roost, originally Pete Daly’s roadhouse, became the ( 7 { “ 7 hangout for outlaws working the Virginia City to Bannack road. Built in 1^62, Bannack’s first jail offered max^um security and minimum ventilation. ( ) Bannack’s second jail had bars made from straightened wagon wheel rims(^ (^TOR; use just one of 29 and 30, if you wis]^ Bannack, Montana’s Meade Hotel had high ceilings and spiral staircases. �■Oto Description^ orm Weis Broadwater, Montana was big and beautiful, and was to have attracted the elite from around the world. Only the rock waterfalls remain at the Natatorium at I ] A Im or sj Broadwater, where Johnny Weismuller learned to swim. One of the many deserted residences that stand in Ring ling, Montana, once the home of the famous Ringling Circus folk. ( A, L j Catholic Church of Ringling, Montana now offers shelter for the resident flock of pigeons. A Only a portion of the many buildings that fronted Main Streeiy\of Castle, Montana have survived the hostile winters. J ( A few remnants of the Cumberland Mine, biggest producer in Castle, Montana. f K? M J An overview of Zortman, Montana business district, with saloon at right, and salvation on the hill. Zortman’s jail has seen better times but they still keep the door padlocked! (T^r^ The Ruby Mine stretches over a considerable distance. Waste material was simply dumped in the ravine. Ore cars are still lined up at the entrance to the Ruby Mine at Ruby Gulch, Montana. �Extensive trestle made a level connection between Mine © adit and Mill at Ruby Gulch, Montana. The "old" frames the ''not so old" in Landusky, MontanaQ This old chair, made with loving care, and often repaired, rocks gently in the wind, on a porch in Landusky. Pearl, Colorado, a town that grew on speculation, then like a faulty firecracker, fissled rather than boomed. One of the mines near Pearl that was mostly stock sales and promotion rather than sweat and pay dirt. Only the stoutest structures can withstand the high winds in Caribou, Colorado. 48. Caribou Mine was the richest of the half dozen profitable L or M silver mines that took $2OfOOfiUlQO in precious metal 11/ from the ground. Snows were deep in Caribou. Roomers in the two rock hotels of Caribou often had to enter and leave by way of second floor windows. Note late July snowbanks in distance. This two story outhouse, connected to the Masonic Hall in Crested Butte, Colorado, was the first such structure to be found functional and still in regular use. Enclosed walkways to outhouses were common in Crested Butte, sometimes extending one hundred feet. �1 Photo Description 52. A L, M or Norm Weis City Hall had classy architecture at the front and -----see next photo for rearview I TOR - 53 must follow 52 -- do not use just one) At the rear of the City Hall we find a two story A L, M, or S. "inside outhouse." 54. One of our first astronauts built this summer home below the ski slopes of Crested Butte, Colorado. Note the re- semblance to a re=entry vehicle. 5. L or A three-way outhouse attached to a little used saloon and dance hall offered inside access from both floors, and outside ground level access to the addendum. 56. Second look at Masonic Hall masterpiece shows upper level L or of the bi-level outhouse can be reached by covered stair. 57. A L or A last look at the Masonic Hall two story outhouse in Crested Butte, Colorado. posted at the upper floor: That's the one with a sign "ANYTHING OVER EIGHT POUNDS MUST BE LOWERED BY ROPE." Near the Slum^ullion mud slide south of Lake City, Colorado lie the graves of five meny^killed and cannibalized by one Alfred E. Packer. Marker at grave site listsy^the edible victims of Alfred E. Packer. kvno �Description Norm Weis f —\ The students showed their opinion of the c^ow at the \ L oir 1*1 f J Memorial Union Grill at the University of Colorado by Voting in an appropriate name. f ) Surface works of the Sunrise Mine of Sunrise, Wyoming make up only a part of the equipment needed for subsi dence mining, 7^6 ;---------- sixty-five f A“ “*M \----------/ longest garage in the world claims to hold cars, but has only fortycodd doors. I I Street of Cascade Springs, South Dakota holds the } Allen Bank, Mercantile, and, hidden under the trees, a saloon^bowling alley combination. N f S7*M 1 J k Bowling alley added to rear of saloon utilized small pins and grapefruit sized balls — one of the first duck pin alleys in the area. Bathhouse-Hotel combination was built beside small hot W spring that town builder Allen hoped would outdo the larger hot springs to the north. Tarpaper covered shaft head building was headquarters and first stage concentrator for the Rusty Mine. /^7r / A, M View through well shaded town of Tinton, South Dakota, �brm Weis Community Hall had most windows boarded over, but one window, covered with chicken.wire, had been broken through, giving access to the town's only resident -a mountain lion. Home of Anna B. Tailant, early visitor to the Black Hills and long time teacher and postmistress. Old jail in Rochford, South Dakota, was lined with steel plate, with brick inside and rock outside. Standby Mine and Mill at east edge of Rochford, is now so rotted that snooping about is hazardous, especially on the trestles and stairways. Alta Lodi Mine and Mill near Myersville, South Dakota(^ A long deserted miner's cabin in Myersville, South Dakota. A view down the main drag of Myersville. Myersville's finest home, where the 1884 book "Things Worth Knowing" was found in the attic. The two story outhouse that the author drove 800 miles to see turned out to be a deserted skeet house. ■ I Adobe outhouse served the local school kids. Building in background was the mansion of Howard E. Perry, prime mover of Terlingua, Texas. �Norm Weis 79. M or Sy Head frame of Mine No. 245 just east of Terlingua, is framed by doorway of miner's cabin. Rock from which miner's cabin was constructed was more substantial than the deposit of mercury^^in the mine nearby. Well worn photo of a two story outhouse that hung in the hotel at Oatman, Arizona. The photo carried no label or information, and no one knew where the outhouse originally existed. The only unusual outhouse in Oatman, Arizona. The rock crib was unique. The wild burros visit Oatman every afternoon for a hand^ out of popcorn and candy. Ove review of Oatman, Arizona, showing quartz outcrop above town. Such outcrops meant mineralization, and acted as a magnet to prospectors. EDITOR; please crop to lines, and you may place this photo anywhere on pages 91, 92, 93.1"—— > Powder house outhouse of Gold Point, Nevada, source of a variety of stories. Although Goldfield, Nevada is not entirely deserted, a number of very substantial buildings like this four story brick and stone hotel, have been long vacant. �Photo Description Norm Wei Santa Fe Club of Goldfield, Nevada has catered to miners for eighty years. Business was good when miners could trade chunks of'^igh graded for drinks. I 88 A S7*M I Charlie Cecchini, the ranking old timer of Goldfield, and story teller extra ordinary. 89 (Z X7*M 1 -- y Mill ruins on the left, mess hall and kitchen on the right, with old brick schoolhouse at mid distance, make up the remains of Grantsville, Nevada. Stout adobe outhouse manages an upright stance in spite of losing two walls. Note tall vent for odor-free operation. V 31. J W. T. (Bill) James, and T. H. (Tom) James, guardians of Humbolt, Nevada history. f ( 92. J Somewhere among these ruins of Humbolt was the saloon where a shootout left no survivors. 93.' M ( 1 The open door of this Humbolt outhouse invites, the sign denies. Use this facility with mixed feelings. /^94. ( \ Mohawk Mill lies to the east of Johnsville, California. 1 L or M 1 Sixty stamps of 600 pounds lifted eight inches and dropped in turn, crushing 150 tons of ore per day. Hotel and firehouse in the town of Johnsville. \ Town was L or M J ' named after William Johns, superintendent of combined mining operations. �(2^ Norm Wei Photo Description The longest single-span wooden covered bridge in the United States, and probably the world. Structure was recently declared a California Historical Landmark. Photo from ''Helldorados, Ghosts and Camps of the Old Southwest." J. R. Meeks combination grocery, cafe, bar and justice court served the public for seventy-five years in Camptonville, California. Small version of the Pelton wheel displayed on monument in Camptonville. Monument was erected by the hell=rais ing E. Clampus Vitus Brotherhood. Tiny jail seldom saw service. HasjZ^ apparently used a nut and bolt locking system. Classy little miner's house of Cornucopia, Oregon, now an even classier vacation home, sported a diamond window and outside stairway to upper floor. Mine structures adjacent to the Coulter Tunnel, where ice cold air and ice cok/ water pour forth. Large schoolhouse of Homestead, Oregon, evidences the great number of families that once lived in the now deserted company town. Dining halls, pastimes, and probably bunkhouses for single miners of the Homestead Mine Company. kV^O/LSL �Norm Weis Looking upstream along Canyon Creek (see text for a more descriptive name) in the town of Burke, Idaho. Peaked roof is schoolhouse. X^O5.A. f k, M A Typical creek-drop attached outhouse common to most homes along the waterway. The residents’ regularity was public knowledge, of course. Z , A, L 1 I crofoi< Also} The George Gulch outhouse-bridge combination of Burke, N Idaho. It may be the only such structure in existence. K \ L or M J Rear view of bridge-outhouse implies a community use by f I Z108. , The bridge portion of the combo is wide enough and stout k L or My/ /<109. [ A, M residents of several homes. ) enough to handle cars and light trucks. This creek drop, self-flushing outhouse required a small diversion dam to course water under the drop zone. ^10. \ f kt M j The ’’Sneaky Pete” model is guaranteed to provide the ultimate in privacy. Just where the back door once led is a mystery. A I And where is the exit? L or Photo from ’’Ghost Towns of the Nor thwe st.” ______ _____ _ 1 Masonic Hall of Silver City, Idaho, straddles Jordan Creek. \L or Note the attached outhouses that drop into the creek. 1 Overview of Silver City, Idaho, looking north. The Idaho ( L or M y Hotel is at center left, butcher shop, Leonard’s Store and Barber Shop line up on the near right. �Photo Description 11^ Norm Weis \ j Idaho Hotel is still '*in business," catering to tourists, L or M / Qffgj-ing guided tours and refreshments. 115. Fanciest residence in Silver City was the Stoddard M or S So house. Stoddard was a mine investor, sawmill owner , and rancher. Colo/ \ M or S/ / 117. Baling wire holds the splayed bottom of this tall out- house together. Walkway to outhouse may have been wider at one time. M or S it gives [onlyja one doooption. EDITOR; 117 should follow 116 - same outhous^ 118. L or M Now This walk-through style tall house is behind the tin shop and newspaper office. Proximity to the creek, which runs under the Masonic Hall just behind, made the annual spring cleanout a cinch. 119. Well kept, and still used outhouse, has been patched and repatched with whatever material was at hand. There’a message here somewhere. 121. L or M Fancy paint job on the water tank was meant to lure buyers of lots in the proposed town of Teapot, Wyoming. Teapot never amounted to much -- a house or two, a number of oil wells, and some basic refining equipment. �Photo descripti 123. A L or Norm Weis Old wooden oil pumping rig is one of the last in exis- Note the hefty'talking beamV^that pivots on tance. the top of the vertical timber. —H.-UUIW- I—- ■ J nui IIHIlW!■ HWJ.. JII. ■ iri T.'- — - ■ Iron slowly replaced the wooden rig parts. / 1 V M or S j Here the wheels iron, but have the same design used in older wooden _ variety. f ’ X Pimping station hastened oil from the well to the refinery. /Long deserted, this old pimp stands in Ferris, Wyoming, k a town that was once called Sinclair Station 3. Photograph was taken from a partially stabilized sand dune that once approached town on a southwest wind. It will move again, and the houses of Ferris, Wyoming, will be buried. \ Headquarters of the ^Little Ilan MineV^as it became known f \ L or M J discovery of a mummified Indian baby in a nearby cave. f I —* \ Rock Cavalry bam of Fort Washakie, now a garage for the M or S / state Highway Department, still harbors a ghost that walks the wood floors in cavalry boots, according to some of the men that work there. Little remains of Jim Bridge?^s original fortified store, ( IM or SI — many buildings, like this officers'^ quarters built when the Army took over, can be found reconstructed at the site. �Photo descriptions^ (5^rm Vfeis View of distant elk as seen through ’’Old Gabe’s” Crystal Mountain. The pure diamond had a tendency to magnify the elk’s image. walked up to bleed it. After shooting the elk, Bridger ”Thet dum elk was twenty-five miles away!” 1^.11 ini»w fill II ■111Mil .■!.irni»wwi—i*i——WWW.IO—wwjw—iw*gn.ii». ii ~ I I ti*— I ‘^~.B‘wn~-r in - f —* \ Central Pacific and Union Pacific tracks met at Promontory by negotiation, but ^r«o/es ran past each other without joining for hundred of miles. ’ \ ’’White Water Bert” lives alone amid the vast remains of \L or deserted mine and mill in Re’tallack, British Columbia. /^33 f —* I Frequent floods on Carpenter Creek wiped out the boardwalks f IL or M / dock-like streets of Sandon, B.C. Fires took most of the remainder. Fort Steele’s central attraction is the Musetim built to duplicate the original Wasa Hotel. The ’’long hair and the hard hat” work well together, re constructing the 1887 Royal Canadian Mounted Police barracks, using only the tools of the time. Finished portion of the post is in background. Broad axe falls and chips fly as another log is squared for fitting. No chain saws were allowed, and all holes were drilled by hand without benefit of electricity. Fort Steele’s water tower can be seen in the background. EDITOR: Both 135 and 136 may be used, or just 135. �^Norm Weis (^oto Description^ /137 Z \ Perry Creek water wheel was freighted twenty-five miles \M or S pqj.|. Steele as an example of early utilization of water power in the mining effort. 138. A, M Oddly roofed outhouse in Fort Steele, B. C. is securely anchored by four posts. Old shops along Main Street are in the background. ZTsg. f A, M \ It was only a tiny sapling a few years after the child was buried. Now the tree occupies the complete grave site in iVild Horse, B.C. /140?^ \ ( A, L Owner of the Long Him Store in Lundbreck, Alberta, bemoaned the loss of the two story outhouse he purchased as a sales gimmick. He found it had been donated earlier to the Heritage Park in Calgary. In Lundbreck, Alberta, this gas station and store con stitute a "shopping center." ...................................................................... ■i.w » . i- Wainwright Hotel of Heritage Park in Calgary, Alberta, was said to have the old Lundbreck two story outhouse attached to the rear. World's finest two story outhouse, a two door four-holer over a four door eight-holer, with a cupola on top. And everything works! Everything functions in Heritage Park, including ste>-n wheelers and steam engines. You can even j2?/3!^/e fresh d baked brea^ from the old bakery. �Wei^^ (^^^Photo Description^ A Exact replica of the Hudson Bay Company’s Rocky Moun- \M or Sj House h^s been built on the grounds of Heritage —* J -- "'*'>* f 146 5^^ Park. ............... . — '' "* *... . —.. ... ...... ........ .... — '1 j Outside of the rebuilt Banff barracks of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, - a constable from years past answers questions and spins a few yams. X 1^7 / X7”L \v \ / Timmerman rebuilt the original Windsor Hotel two story outhouse quite faithfully. It stands in its original location, minus, of course, the hotel it originally served. Now it serves the public, and brings a few customers into the Long Him Store No. 7. ——. ��LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Library of Congress CatalogIng-in-PublIcatlon Data Weis, Norm. 1923A lighthearted tour of the West on a search for the two-story outhouse / by Norman D. Weis ; photographs by the author. p. cm. ISBN 0-87004-326-9 : (^9.95> 1. Cities and towns. Ruined, extinct, etc.—West (U.S.) 2. Cities and towns. Ruined, etc.—Canada, Western. 3. West (U.S.)-Descrlptlon and travel —1981- 4. Canada. Western—DescriptIon and travel. 5. Weis, Norm, 1923—Journeys—West (U.S.) 6. Weis, Norm, 1923—Journeys—Canada, Western. I. Title. F595.3.W45 198^ 917.8—dc19 87-35425 CIP ��Weis, TwosStox7 Guthouse. [ Outhouses have not been Norm Weid<4 only interest* After World War 11, he decided he valued time more than money, so he fell back on his gWWiWSTfc- physics degree and became a high school science teacher. This gave him his summers off plus a job that he thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the year. ( DuringRummer vacations. Hr. Weis explored other interests., Be writing in the late'{>$ds and discovered that he loved it. He has published several picture books on wildlife -- one the result of an intensive four^year study of grizzly bears. towns were another of his fascinations. Twelve years of wandering in and out of ghost towns provided the groundwork for two more books: Ghost Towns of the Northwest and Helldorados. Ghosts and Camps of the Old Southwest. Then his love of flying returned and he flew his hand^built tiny red and white biplane from coast to coast and into the world of air racing and aerobatics. Of course, there was a book there too, called. The Starduster. zlfr. Weis is a retired physics instructor from Casper College, Wyoming. He resides in Wyoming, fishing, traveling and photographing, and wx*iting of his experiences. �Weis, Two=Story Outhouse I Laughter, lies and lambency J- travel with these and tbs"SMM»r as I—* you cover eleven states and four Canadian provinces looking for tvos story outhouses -- the ultimate in yesterdaj^ feats of sanitary n, engineex*ing. [foii/ll find outhouses on hi^ trestles, outhouses hanging over river banks, creek straddlers, leaners, open=air jobs, outhousesbridge combos, and one superlative specimen in Alberta a two=:door fours holer on top of a four=door eij^ht=holer^ topped with a cupola. [where you don\/fc find tall outhouses, you will find tall stories. --Jim Bridger, legendary mountainy^ clear up there you claim^ the air bo ai. see for three days. --The crooked sheriff of Bannack, Montana, M ni^t and \>bha6e<i<X himself during the day. led hie gang at --The trial and conviction of Alfred E. Packer, in Lake City, M I Colorado, for cannibalism and murder. Packer ate five men — all M democrats. I^er 100 photographs show the outhouses as they were and as they now exist. Some of the old=timers, always good for a measure of history mixed with a goodly number of downrii^t lies, are pictured. [^yone who enjoys the unusual, or a good story, or has ever had the dubious pleasure of usingVthe little house out bac^ will find this book delightful. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Norman Weis Manuscripts Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1971-1987 Description An account of the resource A collection of manuscripts by Casper College professor Norman Weis. This collection includes manuscripts of: Ghost Towns of the Northwest: Known and Unknown The Starduster Two-Story Outhouse Helldorados Each manuscript contains written in edits by Norman Weis Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Norman Weis Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Norm Weiss Manuscripts and Photographs, CCA 10.2003.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Searchable PDF Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2003.01_Weis_Manuscripts Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Documents Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Two-Story Outhouse Book Information Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1987 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Norman Weis Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Norm Weiss Manuscripts and Photographs, CCA 10.2003.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2003.01_Weis_TwoStoryOuthouse_BookInfo Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Searchable PDF https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/31c85624106ecbc01ba1e185fe824869.pdf eb558e8245a1d21feb57ba6039845873 PDF Text Text Adventures in a Biplane Nona Weis OF' S^KATCHEWAN Chapter 8 Flying Second Sweetheart to Canada would have been far easier had I remained ignorant of the special rules concerning experimental aircraft. While^building the plane, some kind soul had mentioned that homebuilts were not allowed to cross national borders without special permission^ The rule is little known. ^nd Infrequently ejierctsed.^ It took^hree phone callj and four letters to locate the proper Canadian agency^Two more letters finally had a list of the required papers to /7P �Adventures in a Biplane be submitted. Chapter 8 Norm Weis It was a good thing I started the procedure during the idle days of winter. Three months later, a statement of authorization arrived along with a pamphlet containing rules pertaining to Canadian flying, and special rules for flight into the sparsely populated areas 80J)am My trip WUlJ take me one hundjiiil mil lb hi Him 'JpVlllgad**^arl;—ef SaskahekawnnT /' Mnajr.-af «-hp rftgulat-lnna made sens?, bll*’ * fOW- c^uld nolZ_bfLJii:ajJja£lj£-J3te c^aoi t*y due taJLh££tardiLat^ gmall cargo X vzas required to !>.>.•.« carry five pounds of dry food, cooking gear, matches, compass, knife/*and mosquito net. list went onZ inches or axe These items sounded fine, but the poimds or more, with a handle of thirty feet of snare wire, four trawls (whatever they were), two fishing lines with assorted hooks and a fishj^et of not more thanInch mesh. Since my intention was to go fishing, I had two fishing rods along, packed in a special compartment in the rear fuselag^.0^Alsu fBMiKa small kit of lures. I added one hatchet. some wire/^nd the net portion of a landing net. The four (^4<* trawls were left out since I could find no one that knew what nghj^rthe list made no mention of flares smoke bombs or signal mirror. in NINW. These were standard equipment �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 8 Norm Weis My letter of authorisation specifically prohibited aerobatic flight. Sieti uae a disappointi^tai, but -eeeti fifaMk that particular rule was frequently repealed. My Cgnadian authorisation* good for only seven days* began the day I returned from the contest at Council Bluffy ^jffiat evening I checked the plane over* serviced the engine* charged the radio batteryy^nd stowed my gear. The equipment <w»ld fill all the normal compartments* making it necessary to carry clothes and cameras in separate containers The total load was a bit more than on the trip to the \*4st ^ast* but there would be no mountains to on the floorboards. _ ...» . I Clear* and lift would improve^ v found denser air the low elevations of ^rthem Saskatchewan. At 7 A.M. I said goo^^e to Jay and took off, headed north. odbyes seemed more frequent tliaftwritius for Jay;— "nugd «^he plane Second ay wsni |ntBTLaJn4ng some dmihs ikunLiiiTHng-1i«i >/**'hmighr r«1»Hir. yar>v^Tlg. An hour later we refueled at Sheridan* took off without delay* and headed for Montana, Below our track* num erous coal mining operations scarred the laxidscape. over a number of ugly* unreclaimed pits. We flew I wondered where the beautiful grass-covered reclamation projects were that the big energy companies continually bragged about on the T.V. conmercials. /?/ �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 8 Norm Weis mtana, fifty miles shqjpc ofA the bor der, I visited witythe Qustoms man while filjxtg the required flight plan to cross th/ border to Regina,y^skatchew<m. No i Inspection wa^requiree to exit the cowatry, but he went through \ a list of D^ms that vpuld be checker on the other slide. I \ answered/’no” to boozel bacon, apd marijuana, but volunteered that l/had fishing rodA. a hprldy-dandy hatchet, and the ever vitM rabbit snaring wire on board. He thought that was hilarious and had to have a tour of the plane to sea where everything was packed >acked. As the border eased ing to the Canadian rules of flight: below, I think' Eastward flight was to be at odd thousands of feet in altitude, and westward was to be even thousands, both without the added 500 feet required in the United States. No VFR (visual flight rules) flights were to be made over clouds — from now on I had to stay underneath even the most sparsely scattered clouds. Radio frequency of 122.2 was to be monitored continuously "when practicable^ according to the manual. mA mAanh With a limited life battery, ’’practicable” ti*- on* fTZ. �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 8 Norm Weis Presently we crossed the boundary of the control area surrounding Regina* I tw^d^he radio to 122.2, turned the volme up high and gava^Sien, a call. watts was aspa* rently inadequate^* Five minutes later^^^^nd ten miles closer, I tried again^ and received an answer immediately. After asking ny altitude, Regina radio informed me of approaching traffic at 12 o'clock (head on), but 1,000 feet bilow. I was their buaiaeas^likB RtTlWiSSe cautioned to maintain altitude, I reported crossing the east«west highway Just south of the airport as requested, and was promptly given clear- anas to land* On rol^jout, I we^esoed directions to Customs, ths tower man obliged, then asked if the plane Ira^aerobatic. I answered in the affirmative. After some delay, he asked if I did imieh, aerobatics in the plane. 1 answered again in the affirmative, figuring he was Just being friendly. sat in the coc t, waiting for tlie Cust come out and U. S. Customs ag angry If yo eave go law-abid taxi ane. citla After five m I noticed Everyprie got out and we ins id e agent in charge said it^^s coffee time, and could I wsat? ent 8 gei/vexy es of trying to ther V. S/filaxui I foil d of 60 or so We both had coffee Fifteen minutes later, the agent peeked out of the window at �Adventures in a Biplane fflfl InrV, Chapter 8 inH pniwli.ij t-hw Norm Weis tiA, gI4.ghfc flu wj . / The oil was low my and required I asked for a quart weight. In short ordery| flight plan of to 50 Prince * was back at the plane looking for petrol. Albert •TV Thera was no tank truck available, so I gave the bloody wind screw a twirl, climbed in and taxied around the corner to the pump. no - a blue fired ques organized t ime the plane was surrounded by uniformed lad boy scout troo^ pf wouldpilots. three at a time until au rview. They ity shBflsd up and The questionp^wer^.Jcnowledgeable — how does/ihe handle on rolls; does she stall clean; what’s the consumption on the engine? All they had was 100 grade. Quite a discussion ensued. Finally we all understood that 100 grade was Canadian for 50 weight American. With the windscreen freshly cleaned, one of the hands volunteered a twirl, and I proceeded to taxi out, proud of my Il tv® wwt knowledge of the Canadian language. When I called for clearance to the runway, the tower operator avoided answering, questions about aerobatics. instead hwgan aiikiiig more I pulled on the parking brake and answered. ”Yes, the plane handles aerobatics nicely, and yes, I did a whole bunch Just the other day.” I7H- �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 8 Nona Weis ’’Would you put a show on for us?” *ti^3“)'l’d sure like to, but ray authorization to enter the country prohibits aerobatics. ” ”T^ell, we can give you our permission.” ’’Can you override the prohibition?” There was a long pause, then a deeper voice came over the radio: ”We will override that.” jAen preoeeJed Ltrmini airshow at busy Regina Airport, while two jetliners loaded passengers on the ramp below. I peeled dovm between runway 30 and the tower at 500 feet and 160 mph, t)ut her on knife edge, held it, Xhen leveled, pulled y J ‘tVe up sharply Zand rolled. On fche-jutJiTd re 11 the cameras floated off the floor boards and threateaoA X trapped<-Vi n-nn hand and COmpIp^-pH— tbpm ggaiMfit- t-hp insEruwent paAol tn* wn th* w«-havy^t-h»RR ri»'ni-«iiii.,.i cut tn g - the radio ’’Beautiful, he Bring r, voice ”it ***P . beautifulI” hewan landscape the sun as seem toXsh roads elevators our CO ft at Intervals raa th ” prin^d o different. were ecially clean. th bright yell and/red grain the side, the eq wn has two or three ings/holding hockey rinks and c lin The towns an ena-size ild- lanes4^.„AxiJ-evcevwh&ie ulgrT �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 8 Nont Weis re is wheat* »ii«| and mitev of wheat* fssHi the shield country* tdie pre-cambrian roe inally makes cul tivation impossible. As Z approached Pr Albert* Z could see the southern edge of the shield* SKltaassive^rea marked by numerous lakes* red and brown outerbps of rock* and nse forests of rather scrubby treofZ*^ Valuable minerals had be about the shiel built towns found sprinkled n the past 50 years* causing roadb^to to be born. Once the roads were built ckly beeasM fishing resorts. Zn spite of the the j^rime transportation in the shield country* or sparsely populated area of the province* was the float-equipped airplane On the ground at Prince Albert* the first three people I met asked ise to put on an air show. The folk/at Regina radio had probatty passed the word up the line. clined* refueled* filed and took off. ' I de flight note for LaRonge* climbed in But the ”schoolbus syndrome" prevailed* On take* off Z held the Sweetheart down for speed* then climbed almost vertically* half*-hamaierheaded^^'*and banked steeply to assume a c course to LaRonge. Signs of civilisation dribbled away to a two-lane black top road thatfchanged) eventually to gravel. cars* and Z clung to the road like a child to a Zt was lonely country. There were few magdcst A forced laxiding away from the road �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 8 Norm Weis would be disastrous, since it would be nearly impossible to move across the Rivers, lakes and bogs interlaced with occasional ridge^ike highlands called ’’eskers^’ formers veri- table maze. We sailed along over a progression of quiet lakes, remaining always within gliding distance of the road. Soon sinre them fortyjjat the extremes, the Eake was surrounded by trees and a mesh of connecting waterways. was peppered with islands. dangerous. northern half iSb southern half was open and From ground level you could not see the far shore. LaRonge Town SH- tight up against the west•iftore on a solid slab of granite. I could see several float planes taking off and landing, and several dozen more tied to the docks. The land port, a mile to the south, was quiet*4*<**^j^ the radio service was shut down. After clearing the area for traffic, 1 circled overhead searching for the wind sock. Fail ing that, I took direction from the float planes and landed to the northeast. had to be closed, or uld be launched deserted. A turn ,af ter>^upper arri exp mse. The radio ck was open, but on the cojnter stated^the operator 1 left no tly searc ould re» o the effect that NlNW had and would be at the Dalyn Fishi �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 8^ Norm Weis The^cami^was operated by a young and friendly couple, Dave and Linda Longpre* Dave, a bush pilot until he bought the camp, had hopes of expanding the operation by adding a number of fly-in camps, and in the process-^get back into In fac^he had a lake he wanted to check out, active flying. had arranged for the use of an^^ horse Cub on floats/^fl^ 4 like to go alongT**"^**^ Shortly after breakfast the next morning, we loaded up with on^ rod and three luresx^d gas to the brim of both tanks. Dave faced her into the wind and opened the throttle. Soon we were plowing watei^ ar.u4 4...4..Q ** 1 ■ r "* ? J * ”_nn tilw gathered slowly, and the wings took part of the load. Speed Stick left, and one float cleared the water..a,Speed iaeeeased by etr four t^ph whno m, i-qm nm a sharp tug laeice off and climbing. then with Dave was an acoomplished pilot — probably had more time on floats, which Canddians call skis, than he had on wheels. It was a pleasure to look out of the window and /Zo/ watch the floats pass over ^"Irrcnr as we headed for the remote lake. The sight brought back pleasant memories. Jieaewiee of my first solo flight in a seaplane^** serf of s t-yffurself been tirnntj fira yr*-* th*^ ny^ �I Adventures in a Biplane Cha Nona Weis boss and pal, Bill Riedesel, made a most unusual bargain with a yhmig adventurous type named Tom Croswell, Tra wanted floats put on\his Cub and was short of money after l^ing out cash for the Edo Hoats. Bill volunteered his and uptime to make the conversion, yf we could fly the plane, fuimishing the fuel, of course. Tom a^eed, and in three days tlM land plane became a seaplane, comple^ with extra fin, wat^ rudders, canoe paddles, / and life preservers^ the Park Rapids (Minnesota) * airport to the nearest winter. The haul would be expensive. but Tom (adventurous) had \ s He figured two pickup trucks and a long rope would\suffice« The rope would catch each float at the back of/^e ^tep on a fitting called the skeg, / \ but would release as flying speed was reached. It worked/ but it was dangerous I We had three volunteers in the back of each pickup\to hold the rope ends, and on the shouted/count of "three”, th^drivers accelerated along the grassy ^runway. At twenty mph the rope slipped from the right float/and the plane skidded wildly^ try, Tom s red into the air, using full travel on every con trol he could find. He staggered over the righthand pickup so low, we du^ed the floats. length amy. On the second The prop chewed air a scant arm's We never tried that method again. \ We drove to the lake and met an ecstatic �•*’X- Adventures in a Biplane Crossweli. Chapter Nom Wsis Z turned out he had never flown on fiMts before» and he loi^ it« and would we like to try it tantJ ^ill went first* While I retumed/to tend the airport. An hour\ater Bill showed up as thrilled as Tom was* and "It went Just like the book said," he explained. "Just opm up and hog back to/get her plowing* then pop her forward on tk\step, lean a flo^ out and ease back!" Z had it and rehearsed it once morses Z sat In the cockpit "sailing" the plane to the downwind em of t^ lake. Z faced her into the wind* checked mags and opeb^her up, careful to begin step one by applying some back pressu^. by the floats. Water boiled, then hissed Just as Z waf read^to pop her forward on the step, the hissing stopped* _.mii Z reallaed we were flying. 1 was still on step / \ Danmitl 120 pounds and eheat^ the minimum fuel made the Cub a real perfomr. Zt wasn’t until Z had received a seaplane rating and started\hauling passengers that Z learned steps two, three and four. \ But whatever the nature of the takeoff* float flying was a ne^ kind of thrill. On calm water, thk usual bounce and roll of Wheels was replaced with absolute siMothness. Planf end water parted and rejoined without a nenceable change. Only the onset of a quiet hiss let you know a perfect landijigghad been made. Flying from smooth water was like dancing the starring role in Swan Lake. / �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 8 Norm Weis My daydrearaiag. ended as Dave eased the throttle and glided down to an effortless landing on the smooth waters of the reweSe lake. Fishing was slow, and the first three trout threw the hook, I [jiilLitcd uliL Llie dull trsMoi me KAiigKf fiwnw chores, paddling and casting. ahftp.. a We traded WejjaxieefeetWrTBBtllSTTnr e' tt^waSe»"iwiddey on the fleaL LU ChUlTCBTauL Lhe^effoofee .Riit nt liw»S> Fishing from a floatplane is rnddllnr. Vg awkwardl* Everything is in the way, and the uaderfootlng is slippery. The fish were there — .fchee^i what Dave wanted to know, so we taxied about the lake looking for a cabin site. Several sandy beaches offered ideal location^ ^J/^ather began to move in, aad» discretion dictated a hasty departure. The winds were squalling from the wrong direction, irfrp. and eirtwo drooped hff^^y. 1 * > <-g ■» ■ 4xi£JU-aaiXiAg>'e*MMBadde*-Xo->ge<r y “**-*--■ g, n.«t. —r? on t-h^------- j]axt>J;aka«a££Ma£X£aQ£x«.JEieieUi)K9 we clawed our vay into the air and headed home, dodging the low scud^^ C_J^We won, but just barely. rolled in. fog. The wind died and the We flew^through light rain, dodging patches of haterj we heard-several eteries ef ether hush pllntdfc (9f �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 8 Nona Vais that had been forced to land and wait for improved visibility. One of theml^ a lone female passenger of interesting propor That pilot was the last to axrrive the next day. tions on boaroV bush out of LaRonge, like most other flying, is mostly routine, but sometimes frightening a^ occasionally humorous. Dave told a friend that had be^ practicing water pick-up and fire-drop te^miques. Many of t^ float planes based in the area can be quickly convert^' to fire fighting configuration. Ssiall, hollow, upside down periscopes let the pilot fill two water tanks by skimming/along on the step with'\ / out really landing, then proceed\to ^he fire and drop the load* Dave’s friend was checking out a tank Installation, and had returned to the dock to complain of 'a release lever that only It took a second, heavier yank to / empty the remainder. Before he could mention the problem, he / was drawn into a scheme cooked up by a group of pilots and half moptied the load. mechanics hoping to get k^ck at a new hand, a fellow nssMMi / Joe, who had recently j^rpetrated a number of practical Jokes. Everything was plann^ carefully. Joe, airport. proposed victim, had Just left for the The gai^ would drive over and wait for the pilot to fly innocently by, then they would ask Joe to walk across the runway topick up some tie-down ropes. The pilot, �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 8 Nora Wale r VROuld time his pass and give Joe a wet right in the middle of the runway Well* Joe Xtarted across* and the pilot him. led aw only a floatplane/ihat surely Joe looked* Idn't land on the runway He continued •*>> atMi so did Uie lane — straight toward him. oe got suspicious* lane was a few hundred feet awe When the Joe jjegan to run, then re- \ / versed his field — reversed again* and finally resigned himself to his worst suspicions. The ws^r casX|bM down* knocking Joe 'let and soaking him clear toXis Jocky sl^ts. mt to look and enjoy the/lretribution. The gang ran They cavorted about the victim* pointing and Ijellering and rolling with laughter, as the pilot banked fpZa return pass, his hand on the lever that had delivered only half a load. They were in a tight knot, laughing and dancing and waving congratulations to the pilot >verhead as the remaining 500 gallons of water cascaded down*. , laBonge was still socked in with fog the next morn** ingy* 1 wandered about the town soaking up the frontier atmes-— pherp, e< an "end of ths road tewm” The single main street wsndewed^lewg parallel to the shore, graveled in spots* but puee solid granite most of the way. Fishing camps and charter air services crowded the lake side of the road. and a few residences stood opposite. Stores* cafes Sewers and septic tanks were all but precluded by the solid rock that underlaid the 193 �Adventure* In a Biplane ae^R^ Chapter 8 Norn Weie zJfiere was only one flush s£^ in town* am^ Indians from hundreds of miles around made special trips^ to flush it. Oufcheuees were the- nesm.—Brand new pre fabrlcaLed— tpeyefced ■■ui... and ona >dne litpior sev 1 "licens varied 'client to Cree trap formed in side ore did booming **ta]ce out" business presdses" offered libation to a greatly Well-heeled fly-ii\fisherme pay day, end on ont of the "premises awaitit rank ale next day, long lines open hours. Once in< native Indians would order six or eight beers de livered to the table, and enjoy the visible prospect as they sipped the afternoon away. ____________ The whole town smelled of fish. For the sport J* x***- the boats returned, people gathered at the docks to view the z -/fyU and pick up a tip or two. Each boat carried a large washtub or box of equivilent sise. NP-mawtageaBS^aiBSad* In June and September the boats usuaUy returned with overflowing boxes, happy fishemen^/and grinning, usually toothless, guides* But now, in July, the big fish were scarce and the boxes sq^u^ngJ^ fiUed? The urge to go fishing — really fishing — heoa * �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 8 Norm Weis ipBtetfi'tmd guidri returned as 1 watched a box holding a dozen *‘******y-rr-*—emptied ity^the cleaning house four pounders was eaoqpad neaabyX^d mas looking for someone to go shares on a day's fishing. Ed^wma a retired Saskatchewan wheat farmer/ avid fisherman* rhsmpifm ski Junysr* and oaai 6*?lw&e charactezg ftnt fslilnm mseSr. We made a dealy Ed's outboard motor and knowledge of hot fishing spots^matche^ny boat rental and gasoline. Ws headed out early the next morning* dodging reefs and bowely siibmergeifc rocks along the way. An hour late Jie seepped Se ewell s« sme-ei Bd'e fa^rity^speiaSs Ed took a couple of sights on nearby islands/*’If I don't resMSsber wrong* this is the spot.” j We trolled with wire lines^amd heavy luwes* beunen as Ed was complaining that "they don't want to hook today*” a nice one put a horseshoe bend in his stiff trolling rod. Soon we had a fine eight-pound lake trout thrashing in the fish box* and moments later a six-pounder Joined ”"iL gireb you----- plenty of t the particular to vis I was intrigued rds toget th s accent and med that in " and "trout*** rhymed perfectly. In �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 8 Nont Weis t Canadian on and headed north to try casting for N er^^ke, calle^ ^Jacks" by the locals, Fishing was the next four with a save er and a six pounder and four pounders for on sone urs. I ftnally^-^jmtrib?ted alternated e, and when the fish box looked respectable, we tiours and thirty miles The weather was lousy the next morning. Fog re duced the world to a silent white hemisphere. The fish caught the day before were all filleted and frosen. Ed had donated kCf Ince his freeser at home was already ful The twenty-odd pounds of pure, boneless fillets would fit nicely ix/^me of Second Sweetheart's unused wing compartments. I stomped about town, yi-eifeing every charter sevvice and^l sh fame headquarters, touching base frequently with Dave and Linda Longpre to swap stories and listen to weather reports. The outlook was bad. When low ceilings gather over the shield country, they usually stay £while, up to a week, according to some of the long-time pilots It was relaxing for the hush pilots — a time to rest and let the mechanics catch up. time was running out for me. If 1 couldn't reach the United States in the next three days, my permit would expire emoon, t rained all bight/and andered about But rting a newly rain fell with �Adventures in a Biplane Norm Weis Chapter 8 The rains stopped in late afternoon, but the A new low-pressure weather forecast remained discouraging, system was to move in the next for another week. and dominate the area There was.a chance for a few hours of mar- ginal flying weather the next morning^ I packed uph-and made arrangements to pick’^the fish^^ at 6 A.M. ;?here vas a noticeable thinning of the overcast as 1 walked to the local hotel J:ha next wming for an early breakfast. An hour later, a patch of blue passed over^as Dave helped me load up the Stardustei^^*^fe^ it socked in again. We waited at the radio shack, looking west for lighter skies, as if wishing would make it so. Perhaps the wishing did it. a thousand feet. i The ceilingX*^ose to I quickly filed my flight note and took off. The overcast lovzered some as I approached the mild highlands hal:^3‘’ay to Prince AlbertZ^ squeezed through with a hundred feet to spare. If it got worse, I would have to land on the road below, or head back. Itjasa brighter ahead, so ^^con tinued. ^Twenty miles out of Prince Albert, the weather went below VFR minimumSy'^ ;&t was too late to turn back. My gas would not reach. I called Prince Albert radio and explained my predicament. They could refuse permission to land, or they �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 8 Nona Weis could bend the rules and let me sneak in. Never underestimate the Canadians. special way 5t^handl#*^uch problems. They fiaS^a I was asked to orbit a dozen miles north o£ the airport while they cleared the area of aircraft so that X would be the only blip on the nearby Saskatoon ladar. There was only one other plane in the air* and in a few moments, irwas on the ground, and X was cleared landf«*jfe Now X had to find the airport. The am* hundred^ —foot ceilings and quarter-mile visibility made task challmging. X^found the town of Prince Albert, then the river going east. Around the first big bend, 1 turned left and came in the back door to the airport. No sweat! landing under minimums in a pinch was all right, but X would have to wait for 800-foot ceilings before departing. X drank coffee and loafed about the grounds until noon, when the men at Flight Service said another window was arriving that would let me get off for points south — at least to Saskatoon. X filed for Swift Current, 225 miles south, figuring to land at Saskatoon if the weather worsened. We left as the window arrived, pointing upstream and south-southwest along the Saskatchewan River. brightened. ahead. Soon the skies Five large white birds with black wiT^tips j^gijwred As we closed, the' large yellow bills*Q^^he pelicans^bo*» nans swtdsati. We were alieost even with their formation when the �Adventures In a Biplane Cliapter 8 Nom Weis left wingman noticed us/''*^?h<!y evacuated in unison^and banked Saskatoon showeci clearly a point or so to Star- board. Like most Saskatchex^fin cities, it looked bright and clean, even under dark skies. I reported my progress to Saskatoon radio, received a eatisfactory weather report and continued on course for Swift. Current. ood off both wings, and we flew the wide corridor, feeling t occasicnal warmth of brief sunshine. Twenty miles \u^/bf Swift Current\ t skies were suddenly clear. hat’s what. ohC weatherman termed a similar ’’Severe clea relief from overcast conditic:•ns. Swift Current Flight Service a ramind nr thal^U. S. Customs XTOuld be clo3ed,^«4«M< •*LnTnn GuiirTiijr >JfherG would be a ^25/00 fee to open the office at Glasgow, Montana. ^^ere was too little time to make it all I hac to overnight gomex4iere, I ^igur^ the 'vrsy hcm.Q/^^d it might as well be^Swift Cuirent. I had one day left to reach the U. S, without violating ny permit. During the night , the edge of the overcast drifted south instead of east as expe cted. passing up breakfast, I hurred to the airport; few ijftekclia <eB peawwes cn the ■— wa!3i»— It was still bright to the south, but closing down rapidly from the north. Some of the scud looked familiar. �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 8 Norm Weis The ceiling^ went below minimus^ as Z taxied out to tlM end of the runway. 1 had to receive clearance before takeoff. Swift Current Flight Service knei^lTwas headed for the brighter skies to the south* and to delay me now would hold me up several days. ceiling. They cleared me in spite of the low Nice folkf these Canadiaxui. For fifty sdles we dodged clouds and powe^ines. JBiea ^iuddenly it was clear again^*^ rose to^comfortable altitude* ^nd fep crossgf ths<, invisible line* the 49th Parallel* that separates those who say "troot" from those who say "trout.” Montana* asked the quired questions the plane. on before releasi Haljf^ realised that I had failed to cancel jd gow did not answer* but after four calls* the pilot of a Twin Otter* flying nearby volunteered to relay my reque The homing instinct came on strong as the Big Hom Mountains showed a faint line ahead. Individual peaks stood out as we approached Sheridan on the Wyoming border. was nearly 100 degrees. The full tanks and the extra weight of the fish packed in the wing made the taktf£bff fnora Sheridan Airport less than spectacular. We staggered out and climbed �Adventures in a Biplane Norm Weis Chapter 8 slowly into coole^ smoother air. There is time aplenty to dream and fehinlnwhen the air is smooth and the course is known. Each sight below sparks a different thought. This was the favorite country o^Jim Bridger some 100 years ago. "Old Gabe(^ as they called him, used to call Big Homs, his "Shining Mountain^^ and he would tell lies about "seein* clear through * em." H^Zlaimed they "magnified rock chucks to look big as Ue al'se^laii all the mountains in the territory "was jes* little hills" when he got there, and that they had "growed some since." a special storyConcerning passing below was reclaimed. t liked to be a/small alkali lake before it The e was oil ep above it, and an outc face, "Old Gabe o:: coal below 1 e to a newspaper ioaan from rold his fines e\3ast who believed it and printed t as truth. "This ••Old Gabe ce is going to famous soma day* said '* Sooner or later someone is go in* to open up that oil seep and let her run into that there alkali lake, t tunnel in and torch off the c whole d boil the e down into the biggest batch of soap you ever aoi �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 8 Norm Weis Fifty miles ahead, Casper Mountain showed its rounded outline. We were nearly home. 1 studied the mountain carefully. It didn't lookwhit bigger than the day we left. I had kind^^oped it might have "growed some^ jTZ**^.** 2.^2 �Adventures in a Biplane Norm Weis Chapter 9 The grand gathering at Oshkosh, the yearly bash of the Experimental Aircraft Association, was scheduled for the last week in August. That gave me ten days to relax, in spect and tend to Second Sweetheart’s minor ailments, as well as gather maps and lay out the longest trip of the sunner. Oshkosh was a mere 900 miles away,ya shorter- trip by TjtBnncrpj t-han the jmmt- t-n ^gut-Osh^osh■ would stop on the way to the east coast. be an extended Once^the Atlantic shore - �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 9 Norm Weis my border^to-border and coast—to-eoast goals would have been accomplished. It took(ij)sectional charts to cover the proposed route. I planned to visit Park Rapids, Minnesota; Oshkosh, Wis consin; Chicago, Illinois; Goochland, Virginia; Kitty Hawk, North Carolina; and Muscatine, Iowa. The trip would last about two weeks, requiring an amount of gear, mostly clothing, that overtaxed the plane’s capacity. I sacrificed the chute and replaced it with two changes of cloth^s^ then up three more changes to be It was the wrong season to leave cool mailed ahead to Oshkosh. Vtyoming and head for hotter and more humid areas. sweat a lot, I expected to , The sun rode low on the cowl as we headed east, looking for the dark^SSd^of the Black Hills. They rose/*^nd sharpened on schedule. We passed over the^^wn of Custer and skirted the southern end of the mountains. Mrff*Rushmore, a few under s^^^t^s of rain. miles to the north, was Rapid Cdity, visible over the nose, was momentarily free of precipita tion. We gassed up quickly and were off again. The best tail wind was at 9,600 feely^^/^e rose to ride with the helping wind and enjoy the cooler air. at—F" Qi-yrpnnf The deoeenfc to-Abeideeii, SuuLtrPakuta, feet, wuuVI Tifi nri rnr popping UHJiinlenee. To minimize the effect^ I began a gradual let^down eighty miles �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 9 Norm Vais We landed under sunny skies dotted with a fresh crop of out. budding cumulus clouds. North and ^^ast of Aberdeen, we nicked a comer of North Dakota, crossed the north flowing Red River/^^and entered the State of Minnesota. The air felt cooler immediately. The clouds were older here, sporting flat bottoms and slow boil ing tops. The land^ below changed from crops and deciduous trees to *Xai;ee and pines. I put the maps away and enjoyed the familiar outlines of the lakes passing below. Mature thunderstorms stood with an^vLl^hg^^ hoadsthreaded OUr Hoop ranynn. nnf- nf y/tay tyhlt-e lightning shoot bright jagged lines from the virga that bottomed each storm cell. Sounds of thunder were lost in the^engine and the view from the cockpit weis "remini bo ent of a scene from an old silent movie. The air began to roughen, Gratefully we sloped down over the trees and slipped sharply to the grass runway at Bill Riedesel's little airport south of Park Rapids, Minneso- ta. We had traveled 650 miles in^^^^hours — what a freedom machine( Bill stood by the hangar, all smiles, as I taxied up. His help in majoring the engine two years earlier jaow^ �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 9 hroughte- full' satisfaction. Norm Weis He ran his hands over the curves *•<*"« Vnr.w4r.g thnt of the Sfcarrtnwhft^.in Gfppyflr^nt-^nn. all skills viaart to bwlld she plawe hadiJaaat learned ^i^Jhis direction. nf r,uz^p Two of Bill's art asked Bill to-call whenane passing out ^)^^jizo«de. One of the men, a Starduster loo builder, paid the ultimate compliment by dlaimin^he was going straight home s^ take a piss-elm branch to his half-built plane The second gentleman was more concerned with performance "How quick^'^oes she get off?" "I don't really know — probably six, eight hundred feet at this altitude." and offered to bet He both of us know- ing .all he wanted was to see the plane fly We didn't measure it, but with the luggage out and a firm breeze on the nose, she got off in grand fashion. I hung her on max climb at^^^per, then put on an impromptu air- show. i-n Tt-»n idisn alftni*; lOOpod SUd aK«..T,^a V^.>p« Awo gtiy rolled, hammerheaded and snapped, slipped and '* »- XI... trU.. knn^or fA-,. ^nin.»h.i.. - surf tw-H 11 ■ At eljght the next morning, I climbed in the cockpit,''ocmfnrtable jgith Ginny Riedesel s enllnasy nospitallty. 2^)6 �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 9 Norm Weis Sfi^efully avoiding the stick with my leg, I settled in and moved kll the right levers as Bill gave the prop a twirl or two. has a way with engines. He ) One hand in his pocket, the other gently pulling through against compression, his head cocked, listening tor the right sound from the carburetor. ’’Switch on,” and thJ nvor ornAnthly AU1' »r pnVL O^'Wpnhhv, Once airborne, I picked out a lake on the desired track ahead, took a compass reading/^nd relaxed, letting the Sweetheart handle the business of flying while I took in the sights. ToV>-.e f.yoAA Smoke^tw a saw mill rose, kewfrwest, rose some more, then leaned hard east. I matched altitude with the east leg and watched the ground^peed climb. Just south of Duluth, and barely short of Wisconsin, •fly J;&7way was blocked by a solid bank of Arh^te. Ta -f-ly above HiFas €n1 ly — the gas tank would probably go dry before I found a holei**^t tried^»«2e«neerfch, and the world dissolved in white, forcing me into an uncomfortably low one-eighty. nearest airport^a lonely grass strip near ^5<mdetoone, Mliiuesutn';—Tlie suck hung litnjT: n bear up fuul pump and set the parking brakooi Ar* kfaded sign read ’’Sandstone Municipal Airport - phone for gas QT taxi. Inside the adjacent shack, chewed over stuff* chair, and rinizonnt-o o f-rnm ,0 well «<gpi»nr.g epfo, a �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 9 Norm Weis note was pinned to the space heate^: ’’Don’t light fire — bird's nest in smoke pipe.' fcsid weathered-twtn»engine Aera-Commander nPiaiocks were boltad to^^h^^do^, and sat on two fl an ki aid someLhlnK’TKbew Marijuana, no J»n I bcLi? do foe away. for a look. ■ j qq «4,.. imj atr-tmp«-»d tn win tha An hour later, I fired up the plane and went up The path was still blocked. Another hour, another try, and this time the fog was breaking up into patchefi. headed east, zigzagging to remain over open ground. We At Rice Lake, Wisconsin, the fog closed in again, but we needed to land there for gas anyway. Navy man ran thw waath«>r station at ^^Ti* ^°V<ui Illi* prognosis was u6iuiiul» and as it tumed-^^f also oulfw arriivfM A» ^nd _ t-U.. The land-changed from lakes to meadow, /•* 'de then to mixed crop and dairy land. Jifead winds 4eMai«^ and we headed southeast. our speed suffered. It took nearly two hours to cover the 150 miles .^osaWMbee laitet To Waupaca. A twin«engined aircraft was departing Waupaca as we entered the pattern. I tuned in Unicom frequency just in time to hear the pilot of the twin ask: '’W^io’ s-bbafc up there �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 9 Norm Weis tn that little biplane?” ”It*s me, Norm Weis, from Casper, Vtyomtng.” ’’Sorry I missed you,” came the reply. Waupaca was delightful. Nice pilots’ lounge, hot coffee, new tie-downs (at no charge)^and a cafe across the street. Oshkosh was a twenty-minute hop away, in early the next momxng I could pop uthe convention traffic^ set in* t Jhe- tent f ai S nie elyi along side Second Sweetheart’s right wing. I Inflated the air matteess and fluffed up the sleeping bag. The seat and back cushions made an excellent pillow. I laid out canteen, flashlight and reading material, locked the camera in the baggage compartmentretired to the shade of a large cottonwood tree across the street^and nuxV tn the rafiei beer was cold and the trunk of the tree met cty back in all the right ^la^es. A mild breeze the air rnnled as the ^wened. It would be a good night for sleeping. well the gear^wwo ro 11 a 3 aiid a t the horizon by the time aA4r The engine startea the first try, and «affre* .a.rfhawt wainuLip», I was off to see the elephant « the grant extravaganza called Oshkosh. Traffic was light — only a dozen planes flew the pattern over Oshkosh. Lacking the proper frequency, I joined the no radio group and landed the first go ’round. �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 9 Norm Weis A pickup truck full of ground handlers met and directed me to Uta parking spot. I dug out the tie down stakes and laboriously screwed them into the hard ground, then tied the plane’s wings and tail securely. At the registration booth I filled out the forms that entered Second Sweetheart in the judging for the best homebuilt. I signed a statement attesting to the fact that I had done at least 5(^of the building (actually 98^, then paid my fees and headed back to unload the plane. car was parked alongside the Starduster . '’’^u’ll have to move it. You’re in\thex^ong row!” They hilped roll the plane next row, th^nCleft as I began shifting the tle-downaz Ins ip lent blist^frs gc^ and burst before the job was dpne. Another blplajre was directed to my old spot by_^ the crow that had asked me to move A ------- Planes were everyvdiere -- landing, departing, form ing up in display lines, filling camping spots, settling in for the week-long air show. Within a few days there would be more than 420 homebuilts, 150 antiques, 140 war birds, two dozen rotor-craft/*and a handful of creations that defied classifica tion. In all, there would be ^260 on display, and 300,000 people would view them. They arrived by car and by plane, and they stayed at the campgroun<^ oeb-tw the motels, or the /University dorms. influx. The 50,000 citizens of Oshkosh were overwhelmed by the �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 9 Norm Weis The entire vest side of the airport was filled with planes. Thousands of store-built craft crowded the park ing areas and created a havoc in the air that challenged the traffic controllers. More than 70,000 arrivals and departures could be expected during the week, making Oshkosh temporarily the busiest airport in the world,.t^r far. Airline pilots had been known to pass up their scheduled stops at Oshkosh because of the confusion. Planes formed long lines in the air awaiting their turn to land. Controllers had no time for such niceties as numbers and letters. It wa^’^d lovz-winger, you’re next — stretch your glide and land at the far end; yellow bipe, pour it on, stay close to the red low-wing; blue Cessna, you’re long, go around; silver Beech, put it down now, right now, then get off the runway to the left! up. Come on folks, close it Red Cessna, stay right and put it on the numbers* BEECH, GET OFF THAT RUNIMYl BLUE Everyone, taxi on the grass only.” And on it would go for an entire week. And that was just the runway for store-bought aircraft. A separate runway was reserved for experiraentals and such. At times that runway was even busier. I wandered about, getting in the spirit of things, The letters *^E^^^.^^ere everywhere; on signs, on every air plane, on caps and patch-covered jackets. I saw them on pins and t-shirts, even earTVings and coffee cups, all offered for t-h �Adventure* iu * Biplane sale* Chapter 9 Norm Wei* Two dollar film was selling for $3.95, and there were fees to camp, fees to enter the ground, and fees to enter the display area/'-^ndj of course^ a fee to Join the K7A?X^^^fbeg£^*^ to resent the fact that Z had to pay a fee to display a plane that others had to pay a fee to see. Yet, the Hicpevli^SataA Aircraft AsioeilaMsa Is a nonprofit organisation, loyalty within the group Is fantastic. I seemed to ha the only one possessing doubts. questions were met with amazement. My hesitant Nd one. It seeam^ had ever heard a disparaging word used In connection with the E.A.A. Apparently I was out of step^- * maybe It was tht "yilgtifi. For would-be airplane builders, Itrwaa a grand place to gather vital Information. see lota of planes. run loose. For xmiookeve. It was a to For^^M^ It was a place to let the kids For It was a place to learn a skill) even take part In some construction at one of the do-it-yourself workshops. For the buslnesqj^o^k. It was a place to aeidt-Hietr pmdiifrt as hawk their wares. �Adventures in a Biplane sopagatelyi Chapter 9 Norm Weis 1 wivorf ip block]! f buji HrilBLlBijiL Out on the ramp/nmerous aircraft were on display with owners or agents on hand to dispense information as to cost of construction, perforrnance/and of plans. the availability Selling plans .jawk big business. Of cours^ it’s nearly impossible to design your own craft, and plans are vital and well worth the money — especially If they represent a craft designed by an aeronautical englnee^^^* meet ef them-are> CZ^^^lTBut few people realize that 1,000 sets of $150 plans add^ up to $150,000, and that’s big business. Only one buyer in sixty ever completes his plane, so the sale of plans is a matter of selling dreams, and I can’t knock that — for dreams are aare at any price. A^'^ark, I caught a bus for town and settled into ny dorm room at the University. It was sweltering. it was still hot^^^^eep was impossible. At midnight VThile those lucky fiUDi Llie “Ouiitlj" slept comfortably, the group from cooler places sat in the lobby, watched television and sweated. More homebuilt craft arrived the next morning, and the competition escalated, ffnr ii iilihH I thought the Sweetheart was the finest carnmp^c on display^** trundled in. a wildly painted Pitts Its finish was like a mirror. The three colors of paint met so smoothly that the Joints defied detection, even by fingertip. 2-/3 �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 9 Norm Whin Down the line, a trio of BD4*s*^arked and new ropes were strung along stanchions. One proud owner stretched nearly 100 feet of white plastic chain about his plane, set up large Information easels/^li^ relaxed on a matching white chaise Joua^. KIs airplane was flawless — metallic paint Job In subdued tones of green} dark ^lexiglas^4*^s^P<^ upholstery,^/ and desert scenes air-brushed neatly along^c^ter lines of^^e* lags and wheel pants* Before all the contesting aircraft had arrived, I had reduced vxy Taaik from a hopeful first or second, to twelfth or below — and they only went three or four deep on the prizes* However, tl^e^^ms always an award for the best S tardus ter > and there ly^had a chance > although seven or eight Stardusters had already arrived, wen-another Starduster showed up, sporting a military paint^J^ that rivaled mine In workmanship,^became Instantly 3ieentfuU imw wandered over to visit with the "ptleb aid owner. j x He We a decent sortX^^ small-stalked like a couple of banty roosters^^ur plea sant words^qulte^^poslte tJefrinx thoughts, Down the line, the builders of two blue and yellow biplanes were going through the same routine* Their discussion waifiaec to argument when' It eame-Se the question of cruise speedy then cooled as they both watched a thlrd^blue and yellow biplane taxi up with a young woman at the controls* of egos, and mine It was a gathering �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 9 Nona Weis was second to none. Of the twenty or so biplanes, I figured the Sweet ♦•h-rAugb heart was the finest, but tdeenrl was ownex% light green Starduster Tyfio^came close^'^Y^m eyes. sure the owner eyed my plane Uhe ^valuateten,, but there no rivalry here, for old Doug Pfundhelle^ was too buoy har friendly. His family^nH fwteiwhj a few blocks away in the drive-in campground^ <Hri pnt camped got along wall wlbh Norwegian^^limlip— hospitality is exceptional. Doug htmg a sign on his plane, "Please do not touch or caress," and it worked. our planes. However, we both stayed close to The hordes of visitors, although mostly well manner- ed, were known to flop ailerons, climb in cockpits, bump and bend worst of all, lean over to look in^he cockpit while babes in arms kicked hell out of the fabric. If it wasn't babies, it was neck-strapped cameras that banged and rebounded. We all developed baby rash and camera Now I understood why so many owners had brought rope and stanchions along. At times I vay worries over tourist damage tjjxnedie^edbBsfc and walked over to the workshop area to listen particularly interesting seminar, or take part in a work shop. But always I returned quickly to take care of the plane. Then too, I didn't want to miss the judging team as it made the �Adventures in a Biplane rounds. Chapter 9 Norm Weis Some of the owners stuck around until dark, hoping to add a swaying word or two. We all assume^T^J^tlw judges^probably a team of half a dozen experts** would look each plane over carefully* top, bottom, inside, outside, even lift the cowl. There was much discussion about the great number of ^^omebuilts'^hat ha^^been built by professionals. One past winner had claimed his 5^^ but it turned out he had hired his welding, bought his fittings, had a friend build the ribs, hireo^tne plan^eeieeaMi^ and farmed out the upholstery and paint job. He did fly it to the contest. I began to under stand how the unbelievable paint jobs and upholstery I had seen on some of the "top twelve" had been achieved. Thousands of visitors wandered through the display area each day. Most of them asked the same questions! much did ^xost? from Casper? Do you really fly it? "How Did you fly it here How many hours did it take?they ooh^and alf^n admiration^ST^wch a long trip, as if each hour were perilous. The job of plane tending became easier when 1 blew up the air mattress and stretched it under the shade of the right wing. I lay there for hours, fielding questions, occa sionally reading/^nd always hearing the click of cameras held by^iSSc Kteo thought a comical sight. �Adventure3 lu a Biplane Chapter 9 Norm Wais The week long fly-in Is a good experience for the flying huff, the sl^tseer and the would-be hooMbullder. I envied them as I stood by the plane, my freedom restricted and opportunities to look and learn severely limited.—Oshkosh experience would have been far more pleasan^^^ 1 had made an^) ebservey<gi7a mistake to display a plane /^rller on the first trip. Air shows were held at the end of each day, and they were the beet feature of the convention. Performers vied for a chance to show their skills, and they did it/freal <yhere- was such' a spirit in the ergsnlteMnn and such respect for itw"'' feisndoTii Paul Pobaragipy^ ♦•hat me one evee esked’ a fee of ths XaAiiAi ^^^^al hours a d^^ ^r the entire week, the air shews went oiy^ and seldom was an act repeated* were outstanding, Most efiethe acts tw of them were quite similar to the type of show that 1 had put on for the college faculty* Perhaps I wasn't so far from professional quality air show work as Z had thought. One performer made his briefly* It was a quirk of the plane that he had discovered quite by accident. biplane stand on its tail Itaesolved to experiment with the Starduster and see if it had any unusual moves within its makeup* could invent a new maneuver* . Perhaps Z y Wednesday rolled around and there haJ bssiri rg. sign of the judges, Worse, my clean clothes had not coma* �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 9 Bainy weather Jee^ arrived» but that wee we leone. Nem Well Ute IneleuiBinr* weeiih^ would hold down the visitors and temper the heat. Between rain showers, a young pilot at the south end of the field had been Making short flights in his powered, tailess glider. He would fire up the engine, hoist the rigr'v^ �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 9 Norm Weis and run into the wind, retracting his feet as rtwr-flying speed was obtained, then climb laboriously for altitude. I watched him execute steeper and steeper win^^vers, marveling at the stability. Every tailess model airplane X had ever built flew only briefly before *^/er1^a aede atmtlaa ts fclf rotating reel in an old push-mower. A few flights later, the pi^t e< tlis LuilesM overdid his aerobatics and :&4r^ver on his back. Immediately the wings began to roll over jind swsr» like the reel I had been thinking about. He fell as he rolled, and passed behind a large hangar, still rolling. I hurried Xks line to find the pilot and machine both intact. On the way down he had been shifting his weight back and forth to no effect, but after shutting (t0ib^the power and shifting weight once more, the plane stabilized a few feet over the ground. E.A.A. officials were on hand, as well as an ambulance or tw^ d pilot was grounded for the duration of the meet. Skies cleared the next day and the crowds increased. Long lines formed lor every necessity. X stood in line for coffee, &Mr hot dogs, 4Sow a drink at the fountain^er a chance to use the outhouse. voiced the sentiment! Someone deep in one of the lines ’’Oshkosh is a nice place to live, but I wouldn’t want to visit.” Six of us missed the bus to the airport the next 2 �Adv«ntura« in a Biplane Chapter 9 morning, so we shipped in 6^. cab. Norm Weis As we ■pprosched- the aiv 4Mpa,H.<ng. port, we aaiBfa ftn» pd st s steep aagle i peiliups UlJETty W8g*«r» strife ths ground and flii^i^ owsr. Although we were still several blocks from ths terminal, we could clearly see two people scramble from the ^*p^S^mid run, then stop and stare^as^lipilled fuel, ignited jjpMot. fnllftwed ths trail to t^ ‘^irplum brightly. Qm-aAspdiiM flared Later we learned that the plane^^rried three people, and sadly, one of them did not get out in time. It surprised sm that there weren't more accidents, especially on the runway reserved for the experimental^ ^^The "fly-by” pattern above the runway was always crowded. Sometimes thirty or forty aircraft made endless circles, some landing, some taking off to enter the circuit. To fly the circuit, pilots were required to attend one of the many briefings held each day. The ^leflngs were put on by volunteer people, and If it wasn't such serious business, the proceedings would have been hilarious, J>n , g ... Hl**;* P‘"J||1 II oeated meseewa nanatflijlifr Iipatumtly “‘Ti“ The thrust of each briefing was to the effect that certain hours were for slow planes, other hours foiPmedlum speed/'and 4rtins«for the fast planes. There would be NO racing, NO Abrupt �Adventure* In a Biplane Chapter 9 pull ups, and MO turns below 200 feet. Norm Weis All takeoffs and Ings would be handled by the slgnalswn on the runway u ZtAi -(-ea fy direction o£ flight on the circuit we sfcatsd, thsn .<0^ Il colored card of a certain shape as proof of atten dance, and permission to fly the circuit* But as soon as pilots climbed into their planes, the rules were forgotten* As If by common consent, wst pilots sttde soomlng cllstb* and showy low-level approaches* there were lots of informal races every day* And races — The colored cards given out at briefing were seldom asked for at the runway, and slow, aedluBi and fast aircraft were J^ifsant^ In the pattern together* The word was out* The judging was finished I The winners would be announced later that day. No one along the biplane lines had seen the judge^^^Wm a pilot from the next row said they had driven by one day In the^j^^ — rolled dow the^windows and looked — at some plane^^ they t even stop^^ the carl Well, none of us expected to be In the running for the sweepstakes, but there was still the prise for the best biplane. �-J. 4 Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 9 Then the ecx£ fell! Norm Weis The donor for Chert:' trophy That meant all our waxing and polishing, hadn't coma through. waiting and hoping, had been in vain. The biplane pilots propped up their crippled egos and turned their attentions to the trip home. For me it was The best part of ray trip was still aheacL^ But there easy. Car nwM*. mnffi nl-r aHnw^ thia atiH m« t-A pain of H4AAppA4A*r«^*- TJie performers, the most "Spectacular, , was a group called the Canadian Snow le flight of niAe, often shi/^ting to f soloists. leath. r Thei^ Tu^br JetsTwere red I They trails whpie smoke and Lights on. I They wer^f antas tic. \ Formations not between xti^eu^rs, but in the mid formation chafed to wiw goose to diamona :om loop to /roll to bomb b^st. / They were \ They truly flew^e HIGH FLIGHT that John Billcspie Mageeu Jr. captured in verSe shortly before he was kille(L--ert: age 1 ieKoy^ Canadian Air Force! �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 9 Norm Weis Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter**silvered wings; Sunward I’ve climbed, and Joined the tum bling mirth Of sun-split clouds — and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung High in the simlit silence. Hov’ring there, I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung Ify eager craft through footless halls of air* Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue I’ve topped the windswept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or even eagle flew. And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed^sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God. The above poem is often published without copyright �Adventures in a Biplane Norm Weis Chapter 10 It was a relief to be alone and free of crowds. We were a mile above the ground, cruising north, paralleling the spur of Lake Michigan^^^alled ’^^en Bay^T*****Plans to head for Chicago, then southeast toward Kitty Hawk, had been changed by the persist&it rain-filled low-pressure system that occupied ^xxthem Wisconsin and most of Illinois and Ohio. I had always wanted to visit Mackinac Island anpmyy (they call it ”Mackinaw”), and the weather was an easy excuse. �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 10 Norm Weis The entire Island was an historic landmark. Located a scant fifty miles from the Canadian border, between mppee and* im<re>"MlqhlganH fche Island commanded the strait between Lakes Huron and Michigan. Although no cars were allowed on the Xsland^ ■in oidex bo preserve ies hi st eric sspee^ access by air was permitted. It would be a nice place to wind down after suffering the crowds of Oshkosh. We hopped our way along the west< shSre, then curved along the north shore of Lake Michigan, enjoying the sun and the solitude, shopping every two hours or so^r gas, coffee and a leg stretch, \ X Car¥ crawled along ths'Uiighway below, their destiny dictated by the whuM of a strip^f concrete. I watched their struggles to pass and>gain tM edge, and felt vastly superior as we sped by at twice the/speed. The desire to fly must be within most of us, but the'^ear of leaving the ground in many of us has happily left/the skyto just a few of us. The air was pleasantly rough as we climbed to pass over the open wi^r that separated Island. mainland from Mackinac Measui4ng am a half, pfing two two miles miles by by one one am^^a half, the the southern southern <end of the Isl. was filled with stores, hotises, a hotel and rock- walled fort. The north end was traversed by. a single 3500 foot runway. \ �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 10 Norm Weis ere no hangars, just one bui g wit wdre ti in js. adid, restrooms down, so ntended EM ephone. en planes a spot and sunk tie-down stake ctiiirlrrE ooil- t , . Cmara/n hnndy I began the one—mile walk to town*. ■ A*i4**-r**itJ‘ • lait.Wfin niHrWy overtaken by a stoutly wheeled dray, pulled by a team of horses. I bummed a ride on the tailgate, dangled my feet and enjoyed the view. The road was deeply shaded in tall It was marvelously quiet. pine ' WU llhl'daded tttfe L. 1iiiinfL!i. o -pr.illcu muffttJ Llm ulijp JLidU^ll lab»r. orses, drpt^ings were a with king-siz push carts. of days w ” were no ons and bicycles were everyv^ere. ev ere, but so were the street cleaners ong-ha died dust pans, Any smel ng gone. that rema Bi and twor d was pleasa led y remiyiiscent iding was made inteeesting by the apples” that escaped the sweepers. Amazingly, there ies! Main Street ran parallel to the south shore of the Island, and was face<^both sides with small shops and cafes. The side streets of town were steep and it was common to see a string of bicycles catching free^ride/behind horse-drawn vehicle^ Qjl I uiuiimin Illi Illi iiiiiii.u£ij jiaok.i curlo^ Z2-C �Adventures tn a Biplane Chapter 10 Norm Wets the ramparts of Fort Mackinac, high on a promontory at the east The Fort is intact and weafehithe climb and the edge of town. <92.00 fee for a chance to wander about the halls and to view the Straits from highf^rapets. Semawhate-'Sliattailj ' atSwftbsd, but On the opposite side of the town, the impressive Grand Hotel effuis a tastir olsgmntitn ’ Built in 1878, with fancy woods and loving care, the building has remained in marvelous repair and full working order* More than 800 feet long, and fronted all the way with a column supported three-story porch, the magnificent struc ture dominates the Island's west overlook. ThaLjml9UBa4xizuJiaBg£sJJ3 fira aprlaklar jysbsmi. Itenjrlg^-eye doors, and a reinforcement . Just inside the main entrance was a sign, "Ties and coats are required after 6 p.m.**>,^ AnA ba lew frhet-r-" lytked to bjrpass the ” nn r;*****^ rig^^" a"sho^^ t-ls"* pl eye** *‘hi Cl rtnF’for^^le. The lobby wa^eeply carpeted. Adjacent oms and cocl^t^r^loimges obviously catered to^ tlaa^11 heele felt out of place. \ On the front porch, a four year oM lasB'^s lost and c tie ^^Immediately one of the hotel officials, in black tails, to �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 10 Nona Weis . An elderly woman was trundled oi^ the front door to a waiting ambulai^, one of the two vehicles allowed on the Island, The lady was ito formal attire./Several long-tailed official types hovered ab^t with sme/ling salts and worried looks. The scene shouted ar^uen/s. A problem developa^ whfeh the lady refused to let the long-haired unshaven, dut^gar^-clad man with the sththoscope come near her. She refi/ed to acceM the fact that the young ”hippie” was an M.D.y/and stoutly clawed she’d ’’rather die.” A compromise was reached. The officialXwould load her through the rear door/^ the ambulance, and the "iHppie” M.D. would enter via fene front passenger door. Once irvSthe privacy of the vehicle, and safely out of sight, she woulc^et the ”hippie” ’e't. doq^r^ndj^^^neg^i&l^^ Feeling the need of a little class ntyselfAl dined ( s&fd out in the finest place in town that did not require then took a.taxi to the airport. mrme, eaueh lilte the dra> , except J Mini II vr ; a'l'VSTSSI h»w1 'iinly skinini.agy bnrs^pnwer It d. a twcK-way uudip! was labdin the T-pn-ifi- ev en and women a h piled 0 and ran over to hold the knew h way around ould tell ard unif s One of thtem obvijXusly y the viay h 2-Z^ �Chapter 10 Adventures in a Biplane taxi — by the horse Norm Weis brVdle! The lM<fi ay The crewmen remaning tried to explain the situation to ma. Sure, it was ^vacation, but it was a trainWig flight too. Yes, it took a lorn of fuel/ but the pilots ha^to fly a certain num ber of hotws each mon:h to remain curr^t. Why didn’t they fly ke another Gua^ Base? They explained tracted few/volunteers, 1 lold gaZ; ay the hotel, I 8uffered‘~*-eoTCPu- sion jbf standards. I hold nold t' thjroi their presence made me proud to •ayer. pitched ray tent beside Second Sweetheart as the sun spread color over the western sky. With flashlight and book, I read myself to sleep — the first good sleep in a week. oJ- coffee brought me awake. th^<*S^ter was fiXy»g*1nsLeakfast. The crevz in iZcleaned up in the opera ions building^then wandered over to the ’copter to visit a it and a cup before firing up the plane and flying south for a proper breakfast. J ' -------------- - —------- - ' At Jackson, Michigan, I learned that a low-pressure area covered most of the Appalachians, and that Hurricane Belle on the coast^^as holding the weather system in place. I de cided to head south and skirt the west edge of the overcast. Marysville, Ohio was as far as I could go. I was �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 10 Norm Weis stuck there for three days vihile Hurricane Belle made a slow curve to the northeast, then finally headed out to sea. The air was clear and the sky was cloudless as we departed Marysville. A few miles south, smog covered the city of Chilliclothe like a poisonous blanket. dirty brown and Beyond, the sky turned plumes rrsr ^hi hrrrlrgn f”^J of red and black smoke compounded the problem. At Ashland, the visibility dropped to two miles, requiring special radar clear ance and a ^^ve minute wait in order to land. The poor visibility had me a bit spooked, and I sought advice concerning the best passage through the Appalachians. "Just head up the canyon," the man said. you can see to the next bend. "Keep going as long as That's the way we all do it. Of course, if you had the instruments, you'd be better off on top." Jfllihiiisgitm^KyiVThorinlnn, T pointsd thr ntnr^iiii^rqn nopdj;o the east, foliowing the highway to Cha^aaton, \ virginiaX Charl^West radio cleared BM,-tHrough their/control \ area and wisKW me well as I neadetTup the canyon, aiining for y Tteaweke on the other side of the «ounteata-»-----------" The overcast sat like a lid on the canyon rim, and we flew the open notch, following the bends out of necessity. It was nervous work, and 1 disliked it intensely. My hand ached from gripping the stick, and time crawled. My disgust turned to stage one fear when a half- �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 10 Nona Weis bridge loomed out of the mist half a mile ahead. Con struction work meant guy wires* and that meant I had to go over* not under, even if the space below looked ample* I climbed to test the ceiling, figuring on a quick hammerhead turn if things The clouds rodeubJMiM«ML feet above the rim. went bad. I turned south, crowded between the clouds and the town of Fayette ville below. e The ai t was* in f d high" ction way. th a bend to tXe rig circle two win and npP^oached from 'the south. the lose/end of the runway After contacting the hill sl^pe right I gutt Two men tarr ng cracks^at ved away at the la moment realized we were/on a bad down it OU brakes* maki hour 40 pe ged the the bend to/the back up slope. thin, and more than e could talk your leg off frie lea ed wan d weat about know. Fina the new bri In fi fteen minutes I than 1 reall West , I got the conv sation turned to the , and what the remainder of the canyon was like "That bridge is gonna be the wor s highest and 23/ �Adventures In ay^ip^/fene the world' this Chapter 10 p — the vdiole wo arch brid longe bad. er 8 n G 8 wors of the :^anyon is okay — Aot like own is wh say, d you kn this thos books in e scXools, and th lots o£ times e part you a through —’ e they first^/started banning coal mi rs’ unions - II r came from j\n>n Norm Weis 4|f white-knuckled nqr way through Llw iBUia'liulci eS< any on, carefully following our slow progress on the map. At Hinton, we turned south, and with great relief followed the flat eastern shore of Bluestone Lake. Then, with lifting ceilings,‘•t^erflew the narrows at Pearisburg and took a straight line for Roanoke, Virginia. The blacktop ramp at Roanoke felt particularly solid and reassuring. 1 dawdled over several cups of coffee before calling Dan and Ruth Steck, old friends now living in Goochland, Virginia. We agreed to meet in Charlottesville, 100 miles northwest of Roanoke and forty-five minutes away over comfortable terrain. Riding in an automobile was a welcome change. I spent the evening and the next day touring the various construc tion projects Dan had going, and generally relaxing, waiting for* the smo^ to clear. Dan and Ruth finally convinced me that the haze was normal, so I made plans to fly to Kitty Hawk the next day. Dan had locaged a small private strip just norgh of 2-32 �Chapter 10 Adventures in a Biplane Norm Weis Goochland, and taed**secured permission for me to land on my re turn from the coast. S* The smog enclosed us as we climbed out of Charlottes ville. It was M*~~a thin brown version of the white stuff I 4^^ encountered over Los Angele^ formed a Tarwfirstaele around the plane, growing and shrinking, but always affording a few miles of visibility. We climbed, and the sky above became blue, but the ground visible below closed down like the dlaphaam of a camera. AU»uwu Duwl fUflUiCl AVdUlid usi** We flew the bewA past Richmond, dropped In at Chesterfield County Airport for fuel, then headed southeast, carefully tracking progress on the map while keeping an eye on the bottom of the bowl. There Is one advantage to smog flying. Other alrI, craft stand out as black sllouettes, with no chance to hide In A the camouflage of mottled ground. The possibility of a raltPair collision Is minimized. At Suffolk I filled up for the 240-mlle/round trip flight to Kitty Hawk. The Great Dismal Swamp occuplled the land under a shorty straight-line course. Common sense dictated a track south along the railroad, then down the wide Chowan River< and east along the edge of Albermarle Sound to the long cape that stood off the coast. Detours aroimd restricted areas and the Coast Guard Port at Elizabeth City added to the distance. , , . With Just over half a tank of gas remaining^ the 233 �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 10 dunes of Kitty Hawk shewed* below. Norm Weis The skies at the coastline were a suarprislng blue, well speckled with small puffs of cumulus. The bright sunlight flashed off the choppy waters of the Atlantic while the or^hore breeze held the smog at bay. I wheeled overhead, reconstructing the path of the Wrights* first flight, then dropped down and rolled the There was no time to dawdle. almost half gone. The fuel supply was With throttle retarded and mixture lean, we began the slow trip back. Prior to the trip, I had done a bit of reading about the Wright Brothers. the two men Aviation texts generally agree that been badly served by historians. eering skills were phenomenal. Their engin Not only did they develop a controllable flying platform, bu^the engine to match, a«4 the first airfoil-shaped propeller. Their propellers were more than 70^efficient. Sixty years later, propeller efficiency had been boosted to only But most of all, they were persistant. wrote to Octave Chanute,^May 13, 1900: Wllbufc ’’For some years I have been affected with the belief that flight is possible to man. My disease has increased in severity and I feel that it will cost me an Increased amount of money, if not my life.” On conviction of the brothers' first successful �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 10 Norm Weis glider flight, Wilbur wrote his father, Bishop Milton Wright: man who wishes to keep at the problem long enough to really learn anything positively must not take dangerous risks. Carelessness and over-confidence are usually more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks.'* One can but envy their industry and their genius. Perhaps it would not be pleasant to live a life filled with such determination, but if Z could have controlled Ety own ancestry, I would like to have been one part Wilbur, one part Orville, two parts Will Rogers, two parts Llndbergl^ three parts Speed Holman, plus a dash of Wrong Way Corrigan, the fellow 4hatr took off from New York alone In an old Curtis Robin headed for Los Angeles, but ended up flying the Atlantic -- quite on purpose. Wy wish carries no dissatisfaction with my lot. Quite the con- trary,^I consider it qtshWer miraculous that I was bom InM the gentle th ^ntury. Of the thousands of generations that trod the ground and watched the birds, vy turn came when man first took to the alrl Fuel was bouncing on the empty mark as the Sweet heart's idieels rolled to a stop once again on Suffolk's wide runways^once used by Billy Mitchell as short field take off training for the B-25*^that raided TSokyo early in the wsrr. Nearing Goochland, Z spotted Dan's car pulling into the outskirts of the small village. It was air-show time. �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 9 Norm Weis X passed by his vehicle at eye level and legal distance, climbed to comfortable altitude and ran through a rapid sequence of loops, hammerheads and Cubans, then headed for the private strip a few miles north. the nest <J of the day ess than two ch trip. The Mtrii •and foot laiikth •• perhaps ^00 et along The bottom and "•••aad deep �Adventures in a Biplane in trees although a to/provi e approa rrowe and £o VZhapter 10 Norm Weis rr< ane of trees had been clears nee The upper end o d a Vee- 3 with extra power. uphl the field ed trough I dr gged the field twice ' ped or t Do ill first, and hen >a :isfied the st p was safe, I si ped through the gap the trees ris4i bounced t the ground held off en collided with a nd clattered up the ravine almos Two days later, after Dan, Ruth and I had discussed and solved all the world’s problems, .Ik nepewtos^ irem Llial fiiald, *’ * 11-*—r.H r I III i insisted was purely xxaturil, The reliable smog, which Dan seemed to keep pace as we nnn-ff we st*-southwest, planning on a gas stop at Lynchburg. —'TKe^miiqipal Airport at Lynchburg had quency not available I my ten frequency transceivi to use the non-control' ed Falwell Strip, rer fre so opted The strip was ed' Lca- tional re Goochlai id’s runway sloped reasonably and evi in helpfully Falwell’s 1 pe blacktop runway looked like a sk: jump The strw appeared to be flat for half of its 2900 foot len th. then rise sharply and level again for the last hundred feet so. /it was so steep that a plane attempting a turn on the slipped potion must surely be in Manger ft toppling. If the landing rpll didn’t end on the flat at the bottom, you were committed \ to continue to the -flat-~on~’ton. """" 2-Z7 �Adventures in a Biplane C apter 10 The Sweafthear Norm Weis came to a stop in the firs the st ep uphill portion. feet, fuel and some m^or repel s. We t thousand led 1 for An intermittent miss/had devdloped indicating a p/oblem with/one of the sparkplugs ified up the I fired up If throttle. face do down-Roping runway e engine and taxied AX the top, I turned to off quickly, ^d we climbed off thi the nose stizll below the horizon. 1 was/tempted to come back and land/io 1 could try the takeoff at duced throttle. The 1 ill w so steep that an Idle rpm tai re ainl 1500 woul done it. The Clinch Mountains paralleled our track as we fnv an easy pass<Br~through the Appalacians. The map indicated a reasonable passage from Norton to Cumberland, but sixty miles further, the gap at Middlesboro looked even better. Strangely, the map showed the southernTmost passage to be "Cumberland Ga^|^ well removed from the town of the same name. Xfter r Clinch Mountal umed eling at Ab and rode a autiful V across th y to Tazewe hen for Cumberland Gap. Tree-covered mountains rose sharply and crowded both wings as we entered the gap. Like the playful a3oZ*^rk of some forgotten giant, tshaJliap formed an open wedge, momentarily break*^ ing 4^>^teadyymarch of the Cumberland Range. Beyond, the land 2^38 �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 10 Norm Weis gentled to rounded hills, bounced down and leveled. We landed at a place called London. Sectional charts make light of state lines, and I was not at all sure just where I was, I asked the young man handling the gas hose, and received a look of pure disgust, along with a grudging "Kentucky,” The wall map in the office showed that after leav ing Virginia, I had clipped a comer of North Carolina, entered Tennessee, then passed into Kentucky at the Gap, At Seymour, I played it cool and consulted the wall map first. Indiana! The name had a pleasant, friendly ring. There was plenty of room in the big hangar, and **s^e, I could sleep with the plane if I liked .’**^Tha roan even smiled in under standing. I*m sure he figured I wanted to be with the plane to ensure its protection, when in reality^^^ny finances had reached the point where I had to choose between soft beds and gasoline. Then again, maybe he had ma properly figured, since he gave me a ride to town and pointed out his favorite hamburger joint. Thunderstorms struck at 2 A.M, fortable on I lay awake, com- air mattress, head resting against the wheel pant, enjoying the play of lightning, listening for the trailing thunder. The broad doors of the hangar stood wide open, but 233 �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 10 Norm Weis we were tucked well back, safe from wind and rain. Soon thunder and lightning came as one, and the storm stood overhead, deliver ing rain, then hail, then rain again. The thunderstorms marched all night, but in the morning the world was beautiful. p fiBB.1-1 puffy cumulous, rimi i fiffw' dwewehed gweuad rose slowly to begin their dally growth. We flew below them, then among them, and soon bested their modest heights, Tfc matf thn oewfr sf Juji JoUi HuOue sngetee uLuuL lTr*'High iTI ifght . The sky was a delirious blue and the clouds timh'* nrhrth as we chased the shentingi wind fWhs the same kind/nf day that I gave uiy faLlieiTB t serious Methodist Minister I wanted him to feel the thrlL gentle Vlouds of early morniiig, hisXfirst ride in an airplane, of flikht among and beyond the It was a closest I hatfebeen to heaven, and I wanted much/to share the my he would feel at the same lerience, But tl e sights fell on>unseeing eyes — eyes that s Idom left the c Inf Ines of the plants cabin. Sitting behind me, ' mds clamped to the back of ray seat, \e endured the to atv&i^hte.n each dip of thk wing with punishment, attempting . a countering; twrst on the aeat, I skidded each turn to hold hi world secure whil^ pointing out the beauty of the sunlight on the clouds A quick look, and his thoughts were once more inside the plane. Likq/a parent dutifully viewing a chil mediocre, but proudly offered report card, hejquifetly endured ±he gift I tried to bring him, ---- �Adventur«« in a Biplane Chapter 10 ther was Twenty feet pposlte. Id/ ask me to air she Norm Well ow when we left ground. / on roll out i/fter landli g^und?” I ed to clonally bumpy "when wll •harp pul\ltxps nge touch the ke off and inten- Utt to eee her eraile and tell me it t older brother* Homer* lived Just 400 miles ahead at a place called Muscatine* Iowa* Ijeould be there In three hours enjoying family talk, eating a forepromised dinner of catfish and com^^n/^h^/^b. As'^bSSaed before, I had family scattered about the country In the most strategic places* On arrival, I learned that the corn mas on hand* but the fish had yet to be caught. Homer claimed he had them all staked out In his favorlt^^hofe^ ews miles srwth sf tbs bmidge* In the middle of the Mississippi Rlver> fish failed Kul, to favor JHsmse*s rig. Ve ate ny catfish and his wlfe^^^^ry's, cornT^/^he/il^ob. Bad weather followed good* and It was two days before Second Sweetheart cleared ground. Ifo flew northwest* making gas stops at Marshalltown and Forest City* Iowa. Imiulrles concerning runway conditions at Lake Mills, lows* brought strong caution concerning wet muddy runways at that town's small airstrip I had taught physics at Lake Mills High School thirty five years earlier, and wanted baldy to revisit. One of the �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 10 Norm Weis students at that school was responsible for my first flying He challenged a statement 1 made concerning the theory A of flight and backed up his knowledge by telling the class he lesson. had just flown an airplane eifevn^ all by himself I I set out to equal his credibility, and In the process met a most Interesting character Eldon Hagena fwish jEjBom e« Btlnlr»'wieh an Alw- Ceeps,gaining | tfyfhg'Tb n-Hvlng deing whate he !lieved-beee> flying and tearhing nthers-tetr" He owned a little yellow and orange hlgh-wing tandem two<place Aaronca 7kQ, *^ferred toVaffectionate^ as the ”alr knocker.” charged seven bucks dual and five sol<>XKd yeu aeu^'?buy-a fifty <tmnj eha leeal^cafe. 111 nr Ilm kisanr^ *-hiT His airfield consisted of a^A^acre grass patch with one T hangar, a tiny shack/^d a gas pump* The longest runway was 1^600 feet, with a fence at both ends. All In all. It was a perfect place to learn to fly. Eldon 163^2glOgling sort -ef laugh' tluit suxfaced sja^b't Hii Ilian n practical joker. 1£ a, forgot hAe seat belt, he could hardly wait to get enough altitude to pop the stick and float l^he wMidcwb to the celling. I forgot often, and each time the trip to the skylight carried more force. Once eMeodSBl! thought landings had been mastered, Eldon would bring on a klng-slsed bounce or two with the same .shove on the stick. �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 10 Norn Wslt In the winter, wheels were replaced with skis, ^gsd the field seeamd to shrink as the packed snow chaxiged to Al y ice. Jhe~ frantic use of wheel brakes, tdiich had no effect at But he was all on skis, brought old Eldon to fits of laughter. watching — if he was certain a stop could not be made short of the fence, he would Jam the throttle forward and suggeet tha-*^ student take off and try again. wuuld spend hOUrs trying to hand start the engine at 40 degre low, then raise the tail to get pressure to regiffter During some of Iowa's worst bllssa we dropped co to sta: ving pheasants, and even t game as we tyled to saye the birds by hitting sacks of lied com Even the resident fox bounty pelt added ip to a tidy sum structl abruptly ceased as we went hun oi t becanM a square w not safej n sported, dual in ^d whack him with out and head ran opposite to tn, we would buss the farmer, then reduce throttle holler and point, hoping to split the bounty and pelt money later^ Hagen showed me my first loop and let me try a few. Of course we tried a snap or two. That was merely a spin turned sideways, and spins had already been covered — they were required for a license baek then. ___ .J The brief taste of aerobatictu aed^ y �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 10 Norm Weis On cross country/^ripi, we fleiZ^y~*the’“eecttorr line There is a road every oiile in the mid west, and 1 1 do was angle your/pathi across to match you jieed /' I on the map. We flew low, good weather or bad, and /'■ J everyoneI we knew, which seemed/ to be everyone. In one of my classes I taught a eadlspace flight. Qhe of on rockets told his paints, and they told the school board, which/held a meeting and saw that I was toyi to bring suck nonsense ^o a halt. I was censured and tolol to <|uit teaching science fiction. One parent made it i clMr that X was never agaii^ to make the Claim (in class) thajt / ./ ■) / ' tLfaan would ealk the moon ih twenty-fiv^ years. That parent i WM on the/school board. Twenty-three years after that episode, a man walki4 and one of the students in that class was partly esponsible. He had gone on tkj>ecome an engineer for N.A.S.A, / \ He iprklled meI after the moon walk, in an obviously celebrated **We did it I We did itl” me-jd! i could mak* out.) c ition. The old 40 acre aiPfield at Lake Mills was gone — eaten up by progress Fsnsy hemes and sfcwests violaSed ies The new airport, a few miles southeast, was indeed nuddy^and I dared not land, I cruised over town and over the nearby lake and golf course. After a while I flew to the site of the old ai �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 10 Norm Weis Btrrtoy looped a loop or two,^fehen-made a sido slipping appreach ♦•ft- t-ho ftiH -wiriMajr, trip homeward* Avajf headed west I continuing my Eldon Hagen, if he was watching, would know that one of his many fledglings had stopped by to say hello* �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 11 ^ETTINtr- Norm Weis TTOin I*m still not sure how I got involved in rating. Perhaps it began when Z stumbled onto the aircraft requirements for the racing biplane class and found that the Starduster was qualified. Maybe it was because I had watched the Reno National Air Races several times as a spectator. Certainly Z was curious about participatingy^*j3e^'tg on ihr-luside-vf the big evsiiL IMmudiid lIKU heady gaw»*^;rt» prospect scared me a little. was a dangerous sport. Zt �Advanturaa in a Biplane Chapter 11 Ic *3uld certainly tesj/m skill* enge 1 couldn't pus np. but Norm Weis It i»s a challV Jay i«s^rt tob crasy abptft the idea,! promised b^^raedjust this one J along witk it ——----------------------- —_— time only, X The trip to the ust coast, stretched out by bad weather, had cut in on the time needed to prepare Second Sweet heart for racing* Less than three weeks remained before we were due on the line at Reno Stead Airfield for the Reno National Championship Air Races* For some months my two crew members had been read ing up on the rules and cheeking into possible changes that might legally be made to the plana and engine in order to in crease the Starduster's speed* �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 11 Norm Weis Pat Day, explosives expert and area manager for Southwestern Explosives, was my general expediter. He saw to all the many entry forms and contacted other race pilots for information. He also lined up two sponsors^ Casper White Trucks and looming Central Aeroway^ sponsors had volunteered to underwrite the cost of some small engine parts /*and a special racing propxZ^*^* Fat and I had become friends several years earlier through a mutual interest in homebuilt aircraft. He had^a mid- A wing Volkswagon-powered midget racer under construction in his garage, vdiile X had a nearly completed Starduster in mine. traded advice and muscle frequently. talents always surprised me. We His eyeball engineering He could see a mistake before it developed, or spot an existing ge^ and pester me tmtil it was ^en possible, X returned the favor.* When X invited Bob Husted to be my crew chief and take over the care of the Starduster's engine, X received a prompt .grlnnlnQ. ^affirmative*'* Boh had helped me through some /***yP/>*^ early problems and had impressed me with his knowledge and his abiding love of flying machines. people in this world T seem almost normal. Bob is one of the very few is skinnier than I.ssfc Standing eHisHig**e44e> he mal^me On occasion we have been known to demon** strate our laeeriHky famous disappearing act* On cue, we turn �Adventures in a Biplane Norm Weis Chapter 11 sideways, suck in our guts Zand claim invisibility. Several parcels and a stack of letters had accumu lated during my three-week absence. One box contained the short, specially pitched racing prop. Sprinkled amon'^ the bills, I found an important letter from Racing Association /The United States j number 17, fees liud been sseetved, and we were requirbj^^o report on Monday of race week to qualify plane and pilot. Additional letters from old- time race pilots^^ave Forbes, Don Fairbanks/and Clem Fischer held valuable advice and encouragement. I needed the encouragement. Now that the race was near at hand, I was suffering from second thoughts. Racing around pylons was risky business. People got killed that way. The quip made by one pilot to the effect^ that "fo^might get killed, but you never got hurt,'****^2S^little assurance. Jay and I had made a special trip to the Mojave Air Races in early June to see what racing was really like. What we foimd surprised us both. biplane class seemed to be quite The pilots in the racing of greatly varied, but background. Dave Forbes was a tall, gentle, soft-spoken airline pilot. Don Fairbanks ran a flight service in Cincinnati, axid Clem Fischer did the same for many years in Nevada. Their wives �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 11 Norm Weis were friendly and notably unworried about their husbandj^^ racing, Stan Brown, Reno Attorney, and C. R. ’’Reel Blackbum, telephone installer from Lompoc, California, both raced for the sheer joy of it, Don Beck, former test pilot, now in the construction business, raced to win — and usually did. His revolutionary all metal ’’Sorceress” usually beat out the Sundancer, flown by Logan Hines, a data processing executive from California, And t?iere was^an Mortensen, a traffic controller from Newcastle, California. called him. ’’Last Place Da^j^*they His bright yellow Smith Miniplane could barely muster 120 miles per hour. He took great delight in racing even though he generally finished last. always waved to the judges On the final lap he each of the six pylons. lab Vi logs and their wires warmly invited us to 'jointhem at the/Reno Races. approach to/xacing. We took cony ort in th^JarTalm We\had expected to find aa^ssemblage of characteM^wild-eyed and irresponsible.^"'^ere were a few in some or the other race classes, but they were the exception. There was a strange undercurrent of dissatlsfac- tion running through the filUir rsrlng. cl asses during the Mojave Race. Interclass rivalry for prize money was part of it, but anger over application of rules^conceming engine specificat^naTws- the main cause. I the problem would heal itself before Reno rolled around. �Adventum* in a Biplane Norm Well Chapter 11 Z forced any second thoughts hbout racing to the hack of ay nlnd. There could be no backing out now. ,Boh jsail fir id up aiid ready Pat and ^tel reservations had been made, and Ch^ were both anxious torgaa>the big race^fgcw rhe Inside caught their fever. gafffai fl y «ral a-frApngyaphl a map nF I lui fimpiTr 7- X chose a nearby stretch of flat ground that had dirt roads at one-mile 1r>«>awa1a.irnJiHiiH tn inaXlaaa J T checlMd the Starduster's top speed by timing the run both ways and taking an average. If the wind quartered our path, I let the plane drift, avoiding aaay crab or reach. Over the two-mile course, nor speed each way simply ^200 divided by the seconds elapsed. On the first try I got an upwind speed of 128 and a downwind of 162 for an average of 135 miles per hour. Not badI X could beat Mortenseiy^t leas Although It meant endless trips to the speed course, T_yes detsrml""* make only one change at a time. That way I would know precisely the effect of each. between elevator and stabilizer did little to Improve speed, and side windows to close In the cock pit did even less. Decreasing Incidence/^ angling the front of the lower wings downward brought the speed up to 139, a four miles per hour Improvement. Installation Z57 �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 11 of the racing propr made little change; did not develop. . Nona Weis ]Fhe expected 3100 rpm's We air-freighted ie off for re-pitching, and in the meantime went to work on the engine. Bob Husted installed stronger return springs on the valves, worked over the magnetos and put not^hielded, wide gap plugs on all the right mag wires. firing in spite of oil fouling, I^e wide gaps would insure cause horrendous radio £[it]x one magf^^ill firing shielded plugs^the interference. radio weuld still operate^icely with the ignition tume^to that mag^emlyr* The newly pitched prop was returned on schedule and prositly installed. *^^tuxned to 3000 rpm's, but gave no increase in speed. The flat-pitched prop was important, however, since the original prop would turn ^700 at racing speed, right in the middle of the bad vibration range prohibited by Lycoming, the engine's manufacturer. The engine had been installed with down thrust and right thxust to counteract the tendency to rise and pull to the right under full throttle. For racing, it would be better to have the engine point straight away^^^W^ hoisted the el^tne and installed washers to effect the change, and the speed went up two mphyto 141. Upsetting news arrived from U.S.A.R.A. The race �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 11 Norm Weis pilot* were voting oa-ar boycott for higher prise money* I pleaded ignorance of the problem and entered a null vote* The extra money would be welcome* but Z didn't want to see my first and only race cancelled. The same day* I received notice that my low flying over the speed course was not appreciated. The owners of the land beneath toy course objected "to that guy stormin' over ten times a day." My good buddies at the airport began calling me "Stormin' Normin," a vast improvement over "Number One Nit Wit." Three miles from the original speed course, Z found an even better twox*mile stretch. Only cows occupied the land beneath. Taping and filleting the Junctions from wing to fuselage, and gear leg to wheel pant/*w»h- brought another mile an hour. Disconnecting the carburetor heat hose brought an astounding increase of four mph. Th* speed now stood at a very respectable 147 mph. We spent hours fiddling with changes in the t^^ Ing, going from around ^l^degrees advance to^^degrees and ^egweee, and once, accidentally, to(^degeeea. Every change brought a loss of rpm's and an attendant loss of speed. The plane was sensitive to weight. slower with a full tank of gas. for racing to be six gallons. She was much We calculated the minimum gas That would leave a two-gal Ion landing reserve after £ach heat of six laps. 2-52 �Adventures in a Biplane Norm Weis Chapter 11 We could^ think of no other changes that might bring greater speed. The plane was ready. Now it was time to see that I was edeo-ready^XrO According to the rules, I must be able to take off from a dead stop at full throttle, with less than ten ■-foot de viation in course. plane lansl- he diwed to 1.3 times the maximum level speed, or about 180 raph, and pulled out with 4 g’s or more. I would also have to demonstrate a full roll, and show that I was safe on the pylons. Only the last item posed a problem. 1 had a strong tendency to climb on low-level turns, and badly needed some practice on the rac^^^urse. Lacking proper pylons, I chose three cottonwood trees spaced a quarter mile apart on some flat irrigated landZ^^awelBg She ifn* of the landowner,^— /oyswi|n^*a{)out the treesfull bore, trying to hold the wing a constant twenty feet off the ground^ It was unnatural and difficult, s«d-^p|qulrelf^reat concentration. Each session with the trees left me we^wltft a-blit scared, but strangely exhilarated, I wondered how I would handle flying the same steep banks at low level while flying tight formation with other planes.^‘^ere was no way, short of racing, to practice that maneuver. We were ready, with almost a week to spare! more bad news arrived from U.S.A.R.A. Then The old rule limiting horsepower to 125, and displacement to 290 cubic inches, had , a �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 11 Norm Weis 4/^ been liberalized tQ4150 horse and 320 cubes! change had been months ago, In fact, the rule we were only now made aware of it. , . Pat Day immediately called Dave Forbes to object. MM MO Mt *s Dav^calmly explainednnQftr '*^ere wouldn’t be more than one^r'''two~planes with the higher horsepower,** ’Jla»e-- igfefe ^and the final legality of the change might be altered at the first pilots* meeting at Reno.***^ MSt finished preparing his new Cobra biplane, and was anxious to race it. He would be flying out from Crystal Lake, Illinois, and would call us when he left. He express >d a hope that we could fly part way together* X sudden flood of mail arrived from race pilots I never met, askink support for their stand on a fresh disagree- ment among members of U.S.A.R.A. One of the Formula One racers had been disqualified'Xot* use of illegal substances in his oil and fuel. He objected, aTqd he had a lot of sympathetic allies. The problem I m^d hoped would heal Itself had erupted again This time peop the sides had hired lawyers. were choosing up sides, and The\:ontroversy sapped our enthu- siasm, but we continued with our pla^. We would fly the 800 miles to Reno together on Saturday, kee^ng Sunday in “bad weath reserve" to Insure making the Monday deadline. Join us via airliner in mid week. \ - Our wives would ! I �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 11 Norm Weis The day before we left^ word arrived that the boycott had been voted down, and its originator, the president of U.S.A.R.A., was under fire from several groups, including the Reno Race promoters. The world of racing was in one hell of a mess, but the Second Sweetheart Racing Team, outfitted in brand new bright jackets, was deter mined to persevere. We loaded up on schedule, slept little that night, then set out early the next morning on our great excursion into the confused world of air racing. �Norm Weis Adventures in a Biplane Reno Stead Airport appeared deserted as I swung overhead's enrching out thj ■i;i"" t-nrt ■ i 11 pun., ths ^rird f Ian Hi -ng-—single plane, probably Dave Forbes* Cobra, sat on the ramp tkat ^iiould aooif^uld hiiinriinod c. pickup truck dusted its way past the long row of empty grandstandsJ?ad g rj_H wbi t-Q n1 hy one tall black and white checkered pylon thaXread "RENO" from top tn briti-r.m in 1 m-Qn >1. ..1. 1.1 Illi- ! *1 little ?_r.dicaticn ^There was the excitement and controversy that would center on this lonely spot during the next few days when the Thirteenth (an omen?) Annual Reno National Air Races got underway. eac d ibandingi The mr I put Second Sweetheart down tail high and �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 Norm.Weis on the wheels with extra speed. 'JA'pickup joined my path t-bp pl 0-0 0 qIcvtpH lead to the ramp. and I followed ofc thn map jumped out and guided me to a parking spot alo-ngoi^e what was indeed Dave's othe’f gentleman walked to the cockpit and handed in a hillcrj mmplx of What a welcome! Dave wandered over smiling T Agreed do al~ way Lu -LdLL abmut hiu jpcud Ull LllLi' Lflp We had taken off from Elko together two hours and ten minutes earlier, minutes al'iLud lyf wau he had igiround twenty His new racing biplane was fast -- about 30 mph faster than the Starduster. Crystal Lake, Illinois be and had s nt th night at Cheyenne, Wyoming,/with the understandi/g that h would meet the Casper c along the way/sometime Saturday morning. Husted had own Pat's Cessh for most o the trip. time in e day Pat 182 alongside When Da oose three plane formati tingent y and Bob econd Sweetheai t joined up< we flew for a V nances in cruise speed always brought separation between met, separated and re-met fr from Cas eno. -W- along the 770 mile route �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 Norm Weis Pat and Bob arrived as the second round of beer was passed. The hangar flying was well under*^ay. Right in the middle of a particularly good story, Red Blackbum sputtered in with his Pitts Special. He had been pumping fuel by hand for the last hour and was fiXumb worn out. Over the threshold, Red’s arm and the engine died at the same time. r.nrkpi »• .* ye all rode out on the truck nnd VfQVOd to offer aid, comfort/and welcome. HaH.: lb" pi I klip I the rlinbpH h: TTnnt-pd nntbing rnnro to du Lowed in,—STrf-Cet'liig Lhu tLlLical ouggojLIouj .liv jw- vp TijFU ro'^rorh'^c'^.i; c ?-n-nor-v ith Red lackbum properly rescued flying re/umed. The/quality of the stories i it? t-b tb 2 hangar rove as the erry Duty, Director of t e Reno Air Races, beer di/appeared. was h(/Lding court, and when Jerry got warm d up, th; stories roll d out with r al elegance. He reach/d a peak w .th the taJ/e about the Cu and the motorcycle. ave the world's Air Races.' called me clai to s it's 'perfeck for he down in New Mexic Fell reatest act. S Says he s going to pick up a guy from a motor- cycle with his Cub. I im the act was a dime a dozen, �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 No,rm Weis sut he goes on -- says he's going to do a loop wi^ this otl^r guy hanging on to the end of the ladder! /I told him L^d be there the next day. out at 5^is dirt strip. I met him an^his buddy He had the sicke^^ old 65 horse Cub stillKalive, and a ladder made out his old lady's \ / \ clothesline>^nd four broom handles, takes off in the Cub and comes N^arrelling down the runway. The guy on the bike can't catch-up with him, so they try again, and on the third try the ^y on the bike grabs the ladder, but won't let go of the bike. Finally he lets go of the ladder, and the fellow\n the Cub lands. talk it over. The two of them I could se\ they had never tried the act 'cause the guy wit^hVhe bike had just found out / \ that when he climbs the Iadder\ his bike is going to go before, exhaust pipe over handle bars. \ "They deai.de to try it\gain, and this time the guy on the bike get/s a firm hold on the bottom rung the first try. He l^s the bike go and surX enough, it turns stacks over handlebars. Well, the Cub isn\t doing too good a job oy flying, and the guy on the ladder is climbin' to keep frota being drug to death, but the Cub ^ill ain't climbingy Pretty soon his hands and feet are on the top rung, ^d his posterior is draggin' a furrow down t^ strip." �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 Norm Weis By now, Jerry Duty has the audience t^nsported. Pat Day can't\ stop laughing. Husted is hugging/nis belly, and Red Blackbum's eyes are running tears cl^r to his mustache. / \ "FinaJSly the guy flying the ^fub gets a little edge on his air speM and he climbs a^ouple of feet. They pass over the barbed Vre fence at ?the end of the runway, the poor soul on the laqder all buckered up, clearing the top strand by an inch or two. /it takes them half a dozen wide circles to get six hundred jfeet. back down to the bottom rong By now the gent has climbed the ladder. They come a diving down doing nearw 90 mil^ an hour, right over the top of me, the guy or/ the ladder h^ging on for dear life, hoping for a chanc/ at fame and fortune. The Cub starts up in a loop but/poops out just past thU. vertical. The gent on the la^ider falls back onto the bo^om of that plane while it's u/side down. First time I'd ever\seen a plane entered frenn the bottom. Somehow they get the\^b turned over, an/ the ladder-man crawls into the cockpit.\ / "They land and walk over, all smiles, thinking I'd hire them on the spot. Sure was tough to tell themXno, sp^ially since they volunteered to practice the act. tmey 'could perfect it a little.' " SaiX \ �Adventures in a Biplane Norm Weis Chapter 12 Ten 0/ us toow turns trying to top that storyy' ) The beer had long since disappeared, but the tales conbinued unabated. Th^e was something magic about the momey as ten pilots face^each other in k circle permeated wi^ good will and fine htanor, surrounded by the lonely barrel/ sands and tarred mnways of a deserted air base. EveW man was a pilot /f experience, and every story rang/memories full ci role. / Failing light broke\the spep/f and one of lifej^x j?d^e moments came to a reluctXpt^^end. Monday morning the crew of Second Sweetheart went to work. We installed the racing prof/and removed the carburetor heat hose. For some odd reason/^^e race course was closed, ^o tests with the plane had to be done on the basis of rpm’s and indicated air speed. On the first try the engine wound up to a disappointing ^900 rpm, and the air speed needle seemed stuck on 138. the timing to Bob Husted advanced degrees and I tried it again, satisfied this time to see the tachometer reach 3000 rpm, and the indicated speed 140 mph. We tucked the plane away in a comer of the hangar, gathered up a multitude of papers^^nd headed for race headquarters to register officially. �Norm Weis Chapter 12 Adventures in a Biplane Later we looked over the list of contestants. There were twenty planes entered in the Racing Biplane Class, and only the sixteen fastest would be permitted to race. we ranked ^)th, we were out of the race. ^venteen was my race number, and £tiiiiii1 I had gi If i i"f’! ife I hoped it had no hidden meaning, but at the moment it looked unluckier than the traditional thirteen. To qualify we would have to beat four other planes. mntirn thn fireld; there were only two planes, both Smith Miniplanes, that we Tip rnnlH bnnt- ■ While Pat and Bob fussed over the plane, I wandered about the ramp, worried about not qualifying^ apprehensive about closed-course pylon racin^^ yi oase—i rU H qn/Alify n±b°rc doing T Lilt sacmod too dangeroboorvad fljlH^. I'hI ^TW^:^~?5Tth my pi a-ng rinill ijjg. nn ■vnmp I Hbir TTiei.TWqq A llttlp f V1 £ll f l‘IT- ^hose damned pylons were soli^ telephone poles with heavy steel culverts on top. dead! wwd Just touch one, and yox/^ Dead like the T-6 pilot at last year’s race. His wing tip touched the barrel and his plane ended up in, cmnll pinrna over a hundred yards of desert sand. The prospect was unsettling. �Norm Weis Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 Tuesday morning the^WbftA course was declared open. Dave Forbes, Red Blackbum/^nd I took off to run the fl lap add promptly wag'gled hltl Wings 4t the home pyl<^, then heUj^*a^ teady altitude u?ffVl he is lap time/^arteq at that again reached Zhe home^^lon. point, and ^ded wj>dn he again I assed t>fe checkered pylon. His qualif/iimztime, posted lat >ai<*was 1 minute 18.2 seconds. for a speed of 138.2 mnb — m^l Hi '-mml uiiti n. n nn T_ r- 1 ^'cl'xd mycrlf tried flying straight legs. Qi.qtant 1 minute, 17.6 spmxxd^. banking steeply at each of the six corner pylons dotted along the hexagonal course* sa6>ond3, oQ^ abandoned the ideay\^and concentrated on flying/*^ a smooth oval^&Burog^ More practice would cut the Iwpr time, and I decided on qualifying later in the week. There was much Xo- be(/ ,\4^eti flying learnei^ about low-level pylon flying. wide open at low altitude, one must push forward on the stick while banking around the pylons, quite the opposite of the back pressure^ ordinarily used in turns. wide on pylon six, and at an alt\- de of fifty feet. ew smac was ake. into Dave Forb anding o 11 opposite c a wi rols. and re sing to Several long recover in spi of seconds later. cond Sweetheart popped into level flight, miraculously still at fifty fe.e±------ T realized at that moment 2.6/^ �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 12 Norm Weis ery race pilot must demonstrate his ability alrtraft without lot altitude If you hit t c^tivel/, the pl fli 8 inverted and you to get it ight w thout lose of altitude and roll. onse day I flew the x^equlred str ter in take off fr 11 the full thrbttle, dead stop, /and the required div ter divii^ to 180 mph to rove the plane could the 1.3x pruise speed, 1 immediately/executed the roll wlthou itltud., ...i lose of climbed, rolled inverted. Lt in a cubsin, and finished up with two hanlnexheads. old time nee^i do only the oneroll* I told him I hated to waste the i speed and altitude pn one little roll. some length. rently he fi We discussed aerobatic information awa would hear from him later YU^^^'^^^^/S^emergency meeting was called for Racing Biplane pilots^that-^dUaBaaea. {United pglia The controversy raging within the U.S.A.I.A* Baring AtSTtislrlTn) had reached a dangerous Several pilots, disqualified during a previous race, had arrived in Reno, ready to claim their right to race. The member- ship had polarised over the controversy^ JZhe four race classes /la » ^»eh sides t ah* dissident Formula One pilots eaid most of the ^631 �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 Norm Weis ;h« rMHiinder « «ttii^e<rt;o bfihft th! faces to appeagi most Ay meshed he weu �Norm Weis Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 voted unanimously to hire uiiplcy guards to protect One pj/lots made er. sign: evicted planes during each night of race week. rnpptj o-r.Ho/1^ e mist e of flying the R He was invited to 1 b ■ . I ii'il I I U oicourse wi e, res , and wfes ating^ and I wondered if The controversy huLl-J. ... ..................... .. r.T.Q J._... t-n <-bn -rarp rmi-roo I l[l'1 ITN" 1.11 Illi |1 — Everything appeared normal at the mandatory general pilots' meeting the next morning. The F^A^Aj^went through its rules, stressing two new favorite terms — "sterile and "sanitary," both having to do with keeping the race course free of interlopers. The Race Director laid out the recall signals and changes in qualifying procedures. At the end of s were^asked^^il^^,?«rt? “TCHgwi^ to please the meeting, fill out a questionnaire ^e-.<ia1i;ai'tnainiQ. the mental makeup of the typical race pilot. Most pilots^feft ¥qiin^ giving the would-be immediately,^giiri researcher one very valid bit of information: ^^ce pilots don't give a hoot for psychological research. The Racing Biplane pilots metiZmmedlately after ► egaii Lu gel l~hri irlrn I'Inis the general pilot briefin; me raci la or. x.7i t-b flying. ver, smce The meetr the "rules of the roadXj^*®*®"^*****®*®^ - ' o We all agreed that A**l>*<^ �Norm Weis Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 the overtaker was to pass well outside or well over the passee, and that all pilots should choose a track and stick with it without sudden rise or sink. So far seven biplanes had flown their qualifying We could beat two of them, Red Blackburn’s Pitts, laps. and Mortenson's Miniplane; but we had to beat two more in order to qualify for the race! ypt- fini.m Tbp Up knew wp mu Id beat him n tbat ...La ft one to » We analyzed the opposition, looking for aircraft that the Starduster could top. We couldn't find one! Second Sweetheart hadn't been built for racing and carried less power than her competitors, 125 h.p. vs 135 h.p., and in one case, 150 h.p. Things were tense. and I was the pressure. irritable Husted and I argued over engine changes. wife, Gonnic, and and Pat agreed with neither of us. llLlI-k '-"111 willin he p ble o halp but off fiipojind Slowly we resolved our differences and set to ork/o We removed the chute, radio, emergency survival flares, tie-down ropes and lo^^ooks. I agreed to fly without shoes, empty my pockets/^d swear off liquids until the plane was qualified. We moved the timing ahead to^^^^ �Adventures in a Biplane Norm Weis Chapter 12 degrees and taped the oil cooler three-fourths shut to raise the running temperature and thin the oil. We even covered/^e rough wing walks ovea* with furnace tape! After rolling the plane from the hangar, we drained the gas until only three gallons remained, then Heiwg LU-11 LttU waited our turn e Ke course maki H ^c**^'*^ finally arrived. niiT <!Prnnd We had forty minutes to test the plane and qualify. I flew the first two laps at reduced throttle, letting the oil temperature climb to 200 degrees, then opened wide and leaned the mixture to achieve maximum power^ Sfee— Ian f imrr A bothersome crosswind was slowing me up and fooling me on the^pylons^n?aught myrnluf rounding npiiTind pylons, dangerously close — so close I had to stand on a wing to prevent crossing over the barrel. goo Finally lap, but the stoj^atch read 1 minute, 19.2 seconds -- much too slow. I landed and taxied to the ramp. Bob Husted raised the cowl and eyeballed the timing back to his special ^^degree mark, and Pat Day pulled off the furnace tape that had lifted from the wing 3^ �Norm Weis Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 12 walk and was now doing more harm than good. The fellows in the gas tmr.k^iJiTdP-r«;thnHgL7hoTT; T gcVori fhalf a gallon dHlb engine sound I conce was 1: the upwin ated on t e turns, swinging wide turns ,yhnticipating t e downwind turns. fl8.5 on the next ead stop watch The first lap time ett ap but the ly ten minutes of qua wrist showed tch on my fhg time remaining. We had to beat Red Blackbum’s time of 1 minute and 18.2 econds I had a smooth lap going -- the turns were shallow and even with the pylons passing only a few feet 1 fl Tri de my wing. At the home pylon I punched the watch and stole a quick look. 1:18.1 -- /reat! I cleared the watch and continued around the course, low and smooth. Past pylon six I headed straight down the home stretch, wagging my wings, signaling that I wanted to be timed for qualification on my next pass.,. WJield my min?enlrafir noting t-hp "-iid the intn position tn r.hpr.k for nylon--------- 77t±s. -.1 rtJilicd the otop •..~atch after rcvnding The starter at the home pylon waved a green flag at my approach. —.. I punched the stop watch at the exact moment of passage, then concentrated on each turn, approaching wide * �Norm Weis Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 or close as the wind dictated, dropping lower for increased speed in ground effect, passing the barrels at eye^^evel, pushing forward on the stick at every turn, concentrating, always concentrating. The lap felt good. Pylon five and six went by without a bobble, and I headed for home. The checkered flag waved as I punched the watch and zoomed sharply to altitude, letting the prop wind down before reduc ing thro 111e. seconds. It was the best the little Sweetheart and I could do, and with a'^X^tSe luck, it would be enough to qualify. I swung in for a landing as the allotted time expired. While Bob stowed the plane in the hangar, Pat j- n It looked rrke- we were in ~~ the last figures were being posted: 138.817 miles per hour! ^h position. No. 17, Weis, 1:17.8, speed Second Sweetheart had qualified in We hustled back to the hangar to hug wives and break the news to Husted, who promptly drove to town for a bottle of champagne. �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 Norm Weis With the plane qualified and ready to race, there was time to tour the ramp and look over the entriey^ in other racing classes. / The Formula One hangar was a beehiVe of activity as specially made trailers gave birth to sha^p-edged wings and slim wiieel-mounted bodies. The assembled race planes were remarkably similar, demonstrating t^ state of the art was well advance^ In each case, a fl^ straight wing met the body at mid hei^t just behind the tightly cowled engine. Tail assemblies were miniscule with/elevators only slightly larger than cookie sheet\. The cj/ass rules required the area of the wing to be at least \6 scmare feet, and the total empty weight of the plane to be at l^st 500 pounds. Engines were limited to 200 cubic inches,/but\pm's were unregulated. tachometers read to 5000 rpm's. Most A few had red lines painted on / the face at 4500. In spite o& the bustle of activity, the hangar was oddly quiet. Th^se not involved in ass^bly or repair were gathered in sy(all, intent groups. The conversation stopped as I app/oached and heads turned in suspicion as I passed. The l^ngar was electric with controversy. 0ne knot of half a dozen pilots and crew teembers seemed les^ serious. I joined the conversation. The subject was cheat/ing -- who does it, and how it’s done, and how not 272. �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 to get caught. Norm Weis The introduction of compounds of manganese or cobalt in the fuel could raise horsepower greatly. Even added to hhe oil, a 5% increase in power could b^achieved due to blow^*^y around the rings. Carburetor throats could be polished to^ larger diameter and intake tubes enlarged, or cylinders bore\out for increased displacement. Nitrous oxide introduced in ^e fuel could raise/horsepower drasti cally. The rules forbid any access fr/m the cockpit to the oil or fuel lines that mi^t permit -surreptitious injection from a bottle hidden in a fright ^it. half the planes in the hangar One conversant claimed illegal engines. Pilots hesitated to file complaints,/an^even then, with fellow pilots acting as judges, the inspecrfcions were often biased, or as one irate crew chief claimed, tfte inspectors themselves could rig the evidence to get rid of competition. The T-6 pilots were of a diffe^nt sort. The tight competition With closely matched aircra^st seemed to attract a super cj^mpetitive type of individual, rptent on / racing rather /^han circumvention of the rules. Only World War II At-6^ or SNJ's were permitted in the class. Both designatiptis referred to the same plane commonly called the TEXAN, but universally referred to as the T-6 Pilots in otheiyclasses enjoyed explaining that the T in T-6 stood �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 Norm Weis for TRAINER, but they found it harder to explain the T-y pilot. To race such large machines in close formatic^ around the\small course took great skill and uncom^n abandon. Some claimed\he T-6 pilots were nuts. Others said it was simply an over ^veloped aggressive nature. Tine aggressive quality was evident in the names printed iiy large letters on their planes - DONTREAD ON ME! GOTCH^ COMIN THRU! MISS BEHAVIN -- then,\as if to dispro\^the rule -- MISS EVERYTHING. \ / The Unlimited, pilots ^emed to be invisible. The crews were almost always on ham, working or standing guard, but the pilots were generally elsewhere. Many had mobile campers parked along side therr aircraft, offering air condi tioned escape from the exsert sun and talkative visitors. Most of the Unlimited/owners wereXwell heeled. They had to be, since planes and sj^re engines ran ^ell into, and sometimes past five figures. Ahl of the aircraft we\e modified World War II Fighters, mainly Mustangs and Bearcats.\ Rocket and jet- powered cra:^ were not allowed, making thX Unlimited Class in reality/quite limited. Perhaps Limited \ould be a more proper ^ass name, since the shortage of fighter planes has recenf^ly become acute. \ Only sixteen had signed up for the 1976 races. �Adventures in ~a Biplane Chapter 12 Norm Weis and three of those had failed to arrive, and a fourth had with drawn for unknovm reasons. Other World War II planes oiyQiand for demonstration,\although not adapted for racing, w^e draft ed to till the field\ Biplane and Formula One piloj/s, generally envious of the Unlimi^d prize money, took the slynrt field as a sign of terminal illnkss, commenting to the ^fect that the Unlimiteds were an endan^red species. Somey«mall-plane pilots were convinced the National. Air Races woul^be better off with out the Unlimiteds. They contended the Unlimiteds' 55% share of the prize money could be bXtter speht on the other classes, failing to realize that without^ the ^ig planes, the crowds would shrink and the purse money dwindl^ Meanwhile, Unlimited pilots argued the prize money was inad^i^te. Even first place money of $12,000.00 hardly covered ^e co\t of a blown engine, and engines blew frequently. / \ The biplane hangar seemed\to be the only happy place on the ramp. We ^ad more good humqr, more honest friendship, and more Meetings than any otl^r racing class. We averaged three rivetings a day, and I had\iust missed one while touring th^ramp. However, I arrived iX time to catch Red Blacl^um's description of his recent\accident. /A few months ago, Red had patterned \n for a land ing at an afirport near his home in Lompoc, Californi^. He checked the air for planes, then flared out over the runway. \About �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 Norm Weis twenty feet off the ground a Cessna 172 materialized under the Pitas’ nose, but it was too late. The Pitts chewed the tail of ^e 172 into small pieces, and worked its way for-/ ward, stopping just short of the cabin. The $27,000 Cesraa was totaledX and Red's biplane was severely damaged, ^d complained th\t his Pitts had been slower ever since /he had rebuilt it, and\figured that was the reason Second /Sweetheart had out-qualified\him. / Whenev^ Red was in earshot, we ma^ it a point to call the Stardust^ "The Pitts Killer." Ms red walrus mustache invariably signalled a reprisal aA he sauntered over to offer an insult oS: two. the BIG IRON?" "How's tilings going with The Stardu^er had a sp^an two feet greater than his Pitts and was one o:k the Ingest biplanes in the field. "Don't know how that mmsMr qualified faster than me -- you sure that ain't a two^lacer with one seat shut off?" As friendly as thy rivalry was, we weren't about to tell Red he could obtaiiVanothery to 10 mph by removing his carburetor heat hosey We had to have someone to beat, and as we frequently tyfld Red, we woul<l rather beat him than anyone. / \ Odd tj?fings were happening on me race course. A plane had ground looped on landing and flapped upside down. The owner, wHo had a backup craft, told the Mlot to be more �Adventures in a Biplane eful, because ou-al Chapter 12 Norm Weis ormula 0 le pilot turned i w^s caught /fitting ever) pylon, inclu n Unli ted pilot had qn engine a record la but ng the home pyloi^! ilure at the end of hi a thousand feet, then He climbed t qualifyrun. H are down to your la li erally dove for the runway, landed hot, rolled the lengt f the runwa the pilots' briefing the next morning TTLe explaiiidcT? start ten minute warning .would— Vfiias then a red flag would be waved at 5, 4, 3,Zand 2 minutes. The assistant starter would check all planes for hP readiness one minute, the red flag would jy-aa-and-afeef up until ten seconds to go. At that point, a green flag would be caiaed. When it fell, the race was on. Any further flags would from the home pylon. JSf^ll^ow wearu caution, flag as red p*..:d'" cancellation^ and g j''' black ’’get off the course Shortly after the meeting adjourned, J 1y ..7-; level jet aircraft fly-by and a spectacular display by a team of female parachutists. The Reno National Air Races were underway! The eight fastest biplane qualifiers were to fly first in the Heat lA race jgiQOQi followed soon after by -The Co^eud SinmnlhiiiLart Bgaw Heat IB d ?1 Ty .2,-77 �Adventure* in a Biplane Chapter 12 Nott Wei* a* the plane* lined up for the £ir*t heat, taking particular note of the tail-holding technique. Don Beck in hl* Sorceress took an early lead with Pat Hines close behind. Dave Forbes fought it out with Don Fairbank* for third place, and Tom Wrolstad and Tom Aberle carried on a battle behind, with Wrolstad cutting a pylon in the tpoces*/ Beck, Hine* and Forbes finished one, was with the technique rather than two, three, but ay concern was.with the competition. I the top pilots flew smoothly, with minimum change in bank and little variation in altitude. Formula One races were under way a* the Biplane* Heat IB pilot* met to determine their etarting positions. fastest qualifiers were given first choice. The Starting slots one through six were taken In order^^^ chose position eight, the $4.nre J’ wn* frhe iiiiljn ■gWOut I figured it would outside slot. put other* at ease if I stayed out of the middlsi^ eW^ he much easier for me if iniad/o^ IQiad^i^a man on my left to look out for We pushed our plane* the quarter mile to the starting line Special» Dense F^**y hfr Pfirirt fw bi« ■mIimiisl .ned to look him -«595 �Adw&Cutet In a Blplana Chapter 12 Nom Weis The take«*o££ would be tricky — right rudder would be required to prevent sliding into Red Blackbum on ny le£t. ^79 �Norm Weis Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 At the ten-minute signal, I took off my shoes and climbed aboard. Pat swung the prop a few times and the Bob leaned into the c engine beck, the The red flag the five-fliinute warning and the assistant starter down the line pointing his rolled up flag at each pilot until he received a "thumbs up" in return. The flag waved again and Lbc1 btaut The si Three minutes, and the relay line, to—piiefr. was repeated. At two minutes, Pat and Bob took position/ at the tail. With one minute to go, the red flag went up and stayed up. I advanced throttle to |500 rpm’s and checked the engine instruments once more -- everything was normal. The red flag was down -- the green flag was up — ten seconds to go! 1 tromped on the heel brakes, opened the throttle wide, released the parking brake/^d set the mixture at the predetermined mark. Eight pilots, holding full throttle, turned their heads to face the starter. Eight planes strained against brakes and tail-holding crews. Tail surfaces buffeted in hurricane-like propeller blasts. Tail crews squinted against the wash, eyeing the green flag, awaiting the moment of release. The flag is down! Pat and Bob release the tail. At the same instant my heels come off the brakes, and Second d �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 Sweetheart leaps forward. Norm Weis In moments the tail rises and I concentrate on he controls firm up and the plane i■ ght on the wheels. I ease back on the stick and we leave the ground. a fi to the lef we are in first place, but positions ahead. ed Blackburn‘S slot sever]) is several hundred feet behind. Win Kinneryear old veteran race pilot, is still on take|-off roll. He drifts toward the edge of the ramp^feeling the down wash of nearby plane^^ ^/His left wheel hits the dir^asd'Yhe plane slews, cartwheels horizontally, and flips over T4r nil bnpppns in thp .jl n-P- , Cuy. Ahead of me, five planes are strung out in a line, bending into the first pylon. I curve in behind, wide open, intent on fly- ing a tight^ smooth course. I hold wide on number two, letting the wind carry me in close. The wind is dead behind as I approach pylon three. I pull tight around the pylon and crab on the straighf^^way, immitating the track of the planes ahead, setting up early for pylons four and five, then easing off for six as the plane turns into the wind. Red is just behind, heading for pylon six as I line out for the home pylon, crabbing slightly to the right. I scan Win Kinner’s wrecked aircraft as I pass. iiM* L.iiiptjT' i'Tt ‘J...2 I thank God his plane didw t> bumA i cn th* JHlblift.ndijrnrp.jyetQin Harl annmi-nrod lUdlWSU �Chapter 12 Adventures in a Biplane i i-ii-l ^^pcatcdly that H-.."' Noirm Weis J..-' 'J;.y h";iT it t.U- true ok Kei? up? of. I can't seem to gain on the plane ahead. He is wide open too, trying and failing to gain on the plane in front of him. Each time I enter a straightaway I check behinc^ ^^ed is always there, less than a pylon behind^ behind him is a little black Mong, the stand-by after Win Kinner cartwheeled. alternate, launched Below I can see the judges looking upward through the empty barrels of the pylons^^M any part of that cutting the pylon. n1 g-no ■■ qirrrrfW is visible ____ pI 1 u -TTryil H I ui 1 I'm having trouble with pylon two — the wind continually puts me in too close. Twice I have to back off, then stand the plane on end to avoid cutting pylon. Each time I swear to take the turn wider the next lap. Each pylon is visible between the wings as I approach. but as the bank steepens, behind the upper wing. pyi-ar» disappears I duck my head to prolong the view, then stretch my neck to find the pylon again as it comes in to over the top wing^a bare 100 feet ahead. My shoulder straps inhibit the motion, but there is no time to make an adjustment. course. At pylon six I back along the Red is now a pylon and a half behind, with the Mong �Adventures in a Biplane still trailing. Chapter 12 Norm Weis A white flag waves as I obviously a mistake, since I have four laps. the home pylon, only three or The next time around, the planes ahead zoom up off the coursecheckered fI pass. I can't believe the six—lap race is over. finished sixth, and Damn, that was fun! InipuIiJ.iiL'lj , hml survived the traffic and the pylons. The fear I had e:^ected pyl I i 1 J g-t~ T not materialized, and vTonld bavp l-i J landed in number—six position, then taxied to the ramp for a special welcome from Jay and the crew, one of whom still carried my shoes. The rains ■ciame as we pushed Second Sweetheart into the hangar. The crowds fled and the race was canceLted for the day, but the pilots, at least the biplaners, stuck around, some making adjustments, others making conversation. I asked Red what he thought of Second Sweetheart now, and he jieplrgd -to tke^^ffueit that it was kinda purdy, even if it was oversize. f If Husted, busy checking the timing, aarbew him UFLUL "Yeah, Red. That view from the behind is really fetching, ain't it?" Dave Forbes wandered over and presented me with small blue card that pylon race pilots earn of their first race. He welcomed me in small fra term ty^^*U»-;*»« exclusive one. completion a �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 Saturday was wet and drippy. Norm Weis A dying typhoon had limped ashore and bogged down ■eaaek u»ev aha California-Nevada border! but heat lA of the Formula One race went off a8*^a^pact4S^* I watched with contestant's eyes* seeing only techniques* close eallaZ^^ cut pylons, Jirf^Wygner wen the race* puzzling many uf Ll'Rr uliiei vena, with he retail high ritiddiun^ turns, seem ingly added to her speed. Four planes took to the air for the Unlimited Medallion Race/^st as word was passed for the biplane pilots to get ready. We busied ourselves with the plane raissi^ the Unlimited contes^ which we later learned was won by John Wright at a modest 352 nph. We rolled our planes out of the hangar as the T-6 pilots took off. You can't Ignore a T-6 race noise is horrendous. They don't go as fast as the Formula Ones, Iw-fsrt they wmild-have rmuhle bealilBg Lltr fasLei. iMt all that neAee makes them seem faster, A bad start was aiSMMed.on the*T"^MedaMism M&ce/btt^-awM-Xa Ktplitstlei^ two T^ pilots went three laps7"^ssing three black flags before they noticed they were racing alone. The T-6 race was re-run as we pushed our planes down the quarter mile Iffiag ramp for the Silver Race, the �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 12 final race for Second Sweetheart. eight. Norm Weis I had again chosen slot Tom Wrolstad had been bounced down to our race for cutting a pylon in heat lA, and Stan Brown, winner of our first race, had been moved up to the Gold or Championship Baca. Our takeoff would^of necessity be down wind, Aho wfawl had increased tozl^knots. longer as Takeoff rolls j result. We spaced out along the starting line with barely a wing span between planes, and waited for Bob Hoover to finish his aerobatic act. Given the chance, I would have traded places with him Instantly. Strange how I could sit In gqt plane, lined up for my second big race and still envy the guy doing aerobatics overhead. J weadewed if X would eves beuums' ski lied aiiuugh" tbs Bce to perform In-front of a esewd like tehle-i—J: led hJ long»loftl g's. Movnia —His "gulls’ were atl-baTrels or<^ , rounded out v As ^cuspetltlon pilots he was sra >oth. expert dropping 0 I d 1 ^uld say — al plicata his one 8 kept positive sof 1 to 1 trick at It wou aerobatic I, but to else. tatlons that al stuff. But tate his eel land ings, and his the landl^ geaXlti mid roll ifere something to Incorpora some of his arching maneuvers Into my air show act, something I had to get serious about when I returned home. —. --------- Finally the ten minute signal was pass< �Adventuref In a Biplane line. Chapter 12 Korm Weis Pat propped the engine* then came over to the cockpit to Vioiti and give me a sales talk on the advantages of flying high around the pylons. Good old Pat* always takinietare of me* Hoover skimmed past* landing on one wheel* and the assistant starter passed down the row checking alignment of the eight aircraft. At five minutes the red flag went up and the thumbs-up ritual began. Red Blackburn looked our way as 1 passed my shoes to Husted. His eyes widened* his mouth droppedy^i^ his mustache wobbled a silent disapproval. gave him a thumbs-up. I He grinned and returned the sign* Ing like a character out of World War I — leather helmet* scarf, .amd eyes full of devil-may-care.^ I tightened the seat �belt and adjusted the shoulder harness^ belts Norm Weis Chapter 12 Adventures in a Biplane T fn-r safety or loo^» fal^Tts f l-Ll' get away. r------ VijibillTy' Pat and Bob gave me parting taps on the helmet and took position at the tail. green went up. i i the one minute signal I went to I -I iiiiii half throttle. pnni»i rHnnco The red flag dropped and the The plane strained at full throttle, eager to When the green flag dropped, Second Sweetheart surged, accelerating rapidly. We were off in seconds, leading the field Half way to the first pylon, six of us were flying briefly. abreast; then four planes drew ahead and formed in line. The black Mong to my left gained the edge, and I swung wide to avoid his wash. The pilot of the Mong was flying smoothly this time, avoiding his earlier square comers. slightly. At pylon three I checked behind. ing number one. His lead increased Red was just round "luajae"uuL With en- I concentrated on my flying, hoping to catch trrjMr. the Mong with six smooth laps. If I could close on him, he would probably revert to his old style, and I would have him. The wind moved me in to pylon six, and I backed off, ohal Ici.’irg HnnV then tightened up, banking steeply and losing speed in the process. wide The wind tended to carry me two and-^-kgo^ but I anticipated by aiming to the in side, feeling the drift of the wind as Second Sweetheart rounded dozen feet out, barrel level with the lower wing —» �A-dventures in a Biplane tip. Chapter 12 Norm Weis Pat's advice on flying high was forgotten. Though I had no chance of winning, the heat of the race would not permit conservative flying. 1 had the wind figured out, staying wide on five and six, and boring in on two and three. The Mong was closer now, less than a pylon ahead. I checked oil pressure and temperature on the next straigh^^-^ay, ad justed the mixture, noting the tachometer bouncing at ^150 rpm, then leaned forward to concentrate on a smooth turn around pylons one, two^^^d three. Wrolstad, flying 20 mph faster than the Sweetheart, passed me high and wide, but I never saw him. My eyes were where they belonged -- on the pylons. The Mong was even closer as we rounded number six and headed past the home pylon . Damn! There was the white flag -- only one lap left, not enough to catch him. Second Sweetheart and 1 would finish in sixth place again. I bored around the last lap fifteen feet off the ground anyway. in a vain attempt to catch the Mong, careful to rise to legal, eye-level height as I rounded the barrel^ lessly as the altitude. watchait help took the checkered flag and zoomed to I waggled my wings to acknowledge the checkered flag as 1 passed the home pylon, then climbed steeply — -............ — pilotj turned cii flnu.1 , t'j'i < - - L urr III............. ...... �Adventures in a Biplane Norm Weis Chapter 12 About the thja^^ had it all figured^/dut, complete chaosV thaj/rascal, Red ^atkfurn, cut in :^ont, forcing^e into a serifts nf tn-ms tn nt^i■n'^ggfral^tion. Pilots and crews, all in high spirits, gathered in the biplane hangar. We raced the race again, passing out compliments and criticisms, and taking the same in exchange.. awii^—' eawiplaiinad final. The ban^Ta-^-iTiTg wi th abnirt^X^ laughter. We were still riHing High nn the excitement of competition and wp-r^ """ y.z hii..^ ' i niiiii jusi.ih Punn Perri, pilot of the black Mong, offered congratulations. I said kind words about his flying, then claimed I would have had him if there had been Red disagreed: "Hell, the way you guys were two more laps. flying, two more laps and I’d of passed both of ya!" I felt*^re^^*^tisfaction. The race had been a test, and I had passed. Other pilots apparently felt the same. It showed in their actions and in their words. Egos were at ease/^^^ was nothing left to prove. J fat..becalm and bi.implLLg'; Perhaps feeling that follows racers race wonderful successful confrontation with one's feeling of measuri^ up 'dffidng others who inner fear^^. Certainly it IzasrfM; the money. Our share of the purse was a bit over $500, and our expenses were triple ^ven the ^|2fiampionship purse for Racing Biplanes was less than $2,000. It couldn't be the recognition either. fit — �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 12 for there was little recognition Nom Welt or accepted pllots^No, ItZs not the money or the the company of confidence thaC brings the racer back to race again. > The rere was over for the crew of '8eco^°^ee We celebrated ^he evening mny and slept late Sixnd^y nopdi For a lhang there was no early meeting to attend at Sti ort in the middle of the first race*’ >bservlng w arrived the finish w.th only mild interest. We rooted Dave Forbes to a thi placB finish in the Biplane old Race, and watched Judy r, our favorite in the Fo la One Class, wind up in f I Our relaxed attitude t the races 1sharpened somewhat as the Unllmlteds roared down the runway gathered I ; in loose fonoation for a flying /start Nine planes \f lew along- side pacesetter. Bob Hoover, |ind with the traditiona "Gentlemen you have a race a most unusual contest statement, ot under way^ The planes then Crockd in P-51 number nine hrew a r re still hunched after the fii^st lap, r six, took a small lead and left the course rtly. Then the cohtra- rotating RB—5^1 lost/his blower and was forced to quit the race. Soon Clp.y abo called a "Mayday," and retired with/a �Adventures In a Biplane Norm Weis Chapter 12 I / had oil leak, leaving ^ly six planes on the course. Crocker, taking the pylons high a^ vide, caught the checkered flag first, folloved by Garditrar and Oreenconyer. Within minute^ Crocker was disqualified for flying over the deadline that separated the grandstand from the race course. Lefty Gardner became the winner, and Daryl Greenamyer, in a P-51, not converted for racing, took second. The planes that dropped out early and never crossed the finish line took The st,range race with the surprise fifth, sixth and seventh! finish brought to a fitting end 'one of the most controversial air races ever held. / f After the excitement of the National Air Races, it would be logical to assume the trip home would be unevent- ful. But that was not the case. / In clear blue skies over \ the wide open wastelands a dosen miles vest of Battle Mountain, Nevada, circumstances brought several lives\close to extinction. I was flying east, obeying the rules fox a change. ■ \ Planes flying to the east were supposed to fly at odd thou sands plus five hundrect feet. Earlier I had climbed to a cooler temperature, leveling accidentally at the proper \\ altitude of 11,500 feet, surprised to see that my comfort and the P.A.A.^s rules were both satisfied. The air was / \ smooth and the engine purred. Z was about to call Pl^|ht Service for >d.nds aloft, whan it happened. �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 1 2 Norm Weis my head, then 2d in front on c, both planes Lme for fright, irget. The sen hidden be- ■ 2yed the rule, 2r about this 2S at Reno so 5ert floor amid scheduled for ns to lie where expected. �Adventures in a Biplane Norm Weis |2- PUSHING THE LIMITS < ivIuAisbai. 13 All things have a limit. X thought I had pressed the Starduster’s capabilities to the limit, but in realicy^had taxed only my own. priety and fear. My limit was that fine line between pro The Starduster*e limit, if reached, would be structural failure. The Starduster had suffered not the slightest bend or give. It was time to push the limit — my limit. If I Mlf^^to realize my dream of flying professional aerobatics, it was time to perfect some top-notch max^%^rers for ay act. �Aibzentures in a Biplane Chapter 14 None Welt Part of my enthusiasm was due to Nell Williams' new|9SlVBas9SBV*^ book on^j^robatice. Hie explanations concern ing simple maneuvers coincided with my own* We were both self- taught, but he had progressed far beyond my rudimentary level of competency. He could explain a complex move in a way that made you want to Jump Into the plane and try diately* Imme Since Second Sweetheart was not capable of sustained Inverted flight; some of the enticing maneuvers were beyond reacl^ {^wever the list of tshoev possible was^considerable. Perhaps the most exciting was the "dreaded" Inverted spin, which, according to the new book, was not to be dreaded at all* The design of most planes made the spin and the recovery easier Inverted than upright* Having frightened myself with accidental Inverted spins, I was determined to conquer t**.?.*doing a few on purpose. The air was calm and cool 7,000 feet above Golden Eye Reservoir* Smooth pasture land fronted the lake, offering safe landing In case th^engine stopped completely* I circled, check^ my procedure^ *tugglglg{'^ute straps tigh^'^^*'pulled up sharply, as If entering a loop, eased the stick forward • e pull^Vthe throttle all the way back* Speed dribbled away quickly as I held the nose high, still Inverted* She shuddered on the ddge of a stall and I Jammed In full right rudder and full forward stick* The world tdilrled and I counted the turns* f �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 13 Norm Weis After the second revolution, I janmed full opposite rudder, and ifhen the rotation stopped, pulled the stick back to point the nose down. The old master, Neil Williams, was right. head down was easier then upright. Spinning There was no feel of being thrown out, and the plane showed no reluctance to recover. big difference was visual. The When upright, earth and sky seem to circle the plane, but Inverted, no sky shosrdd at all I I tried another inverted spin of two turns, then three, and finally four, climbing each time to 7,000 feet and finishing ths last spin at just under 5,000 feet. The fishermen a mile below no doubt figured the spins were simply more of the same old upright variety they had seen me do at lower level, and probably wondered at my sudden conservative attitude. The 125 horses in the Starduster's nose didn't provide much of an up line. If 1 dived to 160, then smoothly pointed straight up, she would climb perhaps 1,000 feet before dying and falling back for lack of thrust. Falling back, tail first, in what is appropriately termiJa tailslide, could have serious consequences. is continued. The maneuver is safe as long as power The air blast from the propeller permits the elevators to act quite normally for that short interval before the craft swaps ends and heads straight for the grount^nose first. �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 13 Norm Weis Bit with power off, it’s quite a different story. As the plane slides backward, the reverse flow of air exerts strong forces on the elevators, tending to force them full travel up or dovm. If the pilot is caught napping, the force is great enough to snatch the control stick out of his hand and let the control surfaces bang hard against the stops. The damage can render the plane uncontrollable} hence the bad stories and warnings concerning tail slides, especially accidental till slides. There are two ways to recover from a tail slide, and I was determined to try them both. From maximum altitude, I dove to 160 and pulled up, checking both wings for horizon posi tion, to ^sure a vertical track. As speed dwindled, I drew the throttle back, grabbed the stick in both hands and firmed ny feet on the rudder pedals. a moment it waasquiet. The air noise diminished. For Then the string on the "I" strut streamed out in front and air flew into the cockpit from the rear. slid back, gaining more speed than I wanted. We I was pointed too precisely perpendicular and the plane could not decide which way to flip. 1 pulled back slightly on the stick to help the plane commit itself to an upright recovery. Immediately the stick came all the way back. I could not hold it, only ease the bump against the stop. Instantly the tail whipped up and the nose down — over corrected itself until we were nearly in verted, then swung back, nose headed for the ground. �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 13 Norm Weis I brought the plane level and felt out the controls* even loosened the shoulder straps and swiveled about to study the elevators. Everything appeared normal. 1 tried several more, taking care to climb at(^ degrees rather than^^ The slide back was shorter, and the stick forces easier to combat. The second variety of tail slides involved recovery ”on the back,’* with head down and eyeballs out. I pointed the plane straight up again, but leaned back at about 100 degrees this time, chopped the power and held the stick firmly, a bit forward ofccenter. The plane slid back, then abruptly whipped upside down, oscillated/^amd pointed down. Like the inverted spin, the advertisements were exaggerated. The move, although sloppy and imprecise, was fun and easy. Lifter, a thorough ground inspection of the tail assembly and elevator control linkage showed no signs of over stress. I counted it lucky that the first tail slide was more violent than needed. Now I could trust the plane's structural integrity for properly executed slides. Between practice sessions, I studied the possibility of installing a smoke system. A separate tank could be installed in the upper wing, with a flop tube and double vents* fanstallBd. A rechargeable battery could be installed anywhere, and it would drive an electric fuel pmp to send a special oil — �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 13 Norm Weis ^orvus oil -» through tubes to each exhaust stack. a lot of work, and quite a little extra weight. It involved I decided to postpone the project until winter. Friends who fly straight and level, in aircraft designed to fly straight and level, are ^^S^cme to questions my abiding passion for aerobatics. Why, they want to know, am 1 determined to try such things as inverted spins and tail slides^.. ^X^ings they were always taught to avoid at all costs. Ify �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weis explanations are generally unsatisfactobyX hftt T Feel 1 muste“* try anyway. *** The plane is like any new toy#Mw a bicycle for example.^^u owned one,i^ng eeuess? ^^d you learned to ride i^at the expense of a few scraped knees and elbows? 4BiU4riMm ^ne day you had to try riding "no handseven if your perents thought it foolhard]^ Perhaps you even tried a wheeli^ I guess^^'^terS at birth. Every new skill reveals a new challenge. Once you can crawl, you strive to walk, and walking, you must learn to run, eaA> then jump/^'^id dance^ <<^Tt~Ts when you stop the process — when you think you have experienced it all -- that*4k»taryou begin to grow old. challenge is necessary to the way I wish to live, and SQT challenge Just happens to be aerobatics. But isn't it risky? ^ary^is Thoreau said, Perhaps, "Xt is life near the bone where it is sweetest.'* Torque rolls are beautiful and feel just W«e> they look, but the control motions are strange. Once pointed verti cally, full aileron is cranked in and the plane begins to roll. With eyes fixed on the left wings, the plane se«ns stationary, and the horizon becomes a passing blur. Prompt fore and aft motions of the stick keep the wings perpendicular to the whirl ing horizon. So far everything is easy, but soon the left wing begins to ride too high. Left rudder will bring it down, and -^01 �enturet in a Biplana Chapter 14 Noma Well when you've overdone it, a touch of right rudder will bring it back on the horizon. . , ’ . Handling stick and rudder UjtflUiti is like patting your head and rubbing your stomach. finement can be added. Once learned, a new re Wien the plane reaches the top and starts to slide back, the ailerons should be reversed so the wings can unscrew their way down, preserving the rotation. Other control motions remain the same, since full power still puts normal air blast over the tail. But only for ^hile. Soon the backward motion brings on more reverse flow of air than the prop wash can handle, and the plane sags over eeafety and oscillates to a downward path. Some planes can achieve three or four rolls on the upline, hang on the prop for another, then rotate two or three more turns on the way down. The Starduster, with a lesser roll rate, due to its lack of four ailerons, does well to get a three^ quarter roll up and a half roll down. It's mot much of a torque roll, so I prefer to call it a "rolling tail slide." Uhifferdill! What an exotic name for a maneuver. wanted to learn the maneuver if only to make use of the term. When I finally found out what it was^from an English friend, I realized I had been doing eiUm for more than a yea Mew tehey t a barrel roll that has its mind changed mi^^ay, or you could call it a super**steep lazy I �zentures in a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weis eight, so steep the wings go past vertical to precisely in verted, then return. It is a long sweeping reversing maneu ver that keeps you pleasantly in your seat. . Square loops, diamond loopa/and eight-sided loops are simple from the pilot’s seat, but viewed from outside, first efforts look more like rectangles, squashed boxes/*and ellipses. The problem is with the timing* Speed changes are drastic, and to draw equal sides, one must fly for unequal times. For example, the first leg of a diamond loopj inward at should be held for a count of three, then the plane rdiited ^^^with ele vator, and the new course held for a count of five} another and htfld for a count of four (the engine and gravity are now working together), then a final two, then level. hfild it for a count of A ground obeerver can suggest slight changes in count and angle, and when mastered, the maneuver will look grand from the ground but seem all wrong from the cockpit. trol^ taka on a new stiffness and the wires a new higher-pitched howl. A glance at the aiiQipead indicator explains it all. new top speed has been reached. A I make it a practice to check both ailerons for incipient flutter (they would look extra fat) before reducing throttle and pulling out. Later I wobM move �Advanturat in a Biplane the red, Norm Wais Chapter 13 not exceed speed" line/up to a new position on the dial Cliittbii^ in and out of the Starduster wos/still a graceless ac In spite of special precautions, I f/aquently ran the stick vy pant leg Even when X toed the stick to the side and out of the way, the wind on the ailerons would and found it difficult*^ doing it on purpos by accident. foot. to match the planting of/ nave it back in S(»iie stick wouldn't ride X tried t was much easier y I would rework the^rim system so the the meantime, the center travel. best Z could do was leAva all my flared britches in the closet and weat the tight-cuffa^ pants thai went out of style four jrears ago. Although Z hav formed considerably since I found there were rules about such; tics, 1 still get a kick out flying parallel to highways at\.ow altitude. I often flew low i^^to and from the practice area and close to Highway 20 /bn ray wa; Perhaps e habit be ingrained on early cross- The planes countries as X held the highway fo * security. ware slower back and head winds ^re more of a problem, and that meant |bw level flight to esca] effect. At times the wind almost aron. some of the slowing ^e flying a J-3 Cub, I've been insulted by cars passing me oii\the highway <-«* even trucks. Once X barely got around a combine.. A friend of �AdventurM in a Biplane Chapter 13 Nona Waia mlne/naimra^thtt wlnd>^*aix1^^ realJjrlBloir^nj^wjtJ^^ wonan hang outtlrtTwaah and you're still there when she takes ft lnl“ \ / The fifty-five nile per hour has introduced a new sport. limit All those Mrs traveling sixty plusi are gambling someone's C.B. will get tra word out if ’’Smokey is lurking up ahead*" Let one little aJ^lane pass by, and the whole string slows to fifty-five, and the air waves are filled with ’’Bear in the airl" / Ify- low level flying/is strictly for sport, but for Jim Good of Casper, Wycsning, i-X i* a means of livelihood. Jia flies pipeline for AMOCO through most of Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and Utah. His 2w mph aircraft is equipped with all sorts of radio gear plusyi siren and a loudspeaker. He has his own kind of fun with tl^ cars on occasion, but most of his low flying is strictly business. \ 1 rede along on one of his tours engine of the Ces 210 hummed smoothly as feet and began ppkalleling the pipeline, entered rough country. The turbo equipped leveled at 100 In a lew minutes we While Jim looked for leaka below, Z watched the bluff tops race by above. When the pipeline turned, so did we — two g turns at times Now and then we slowed, and Jim called the man below on c frequency, inquiring about a fresh slick of oil near the lin 303 �Adventures in a Biplane Norm Weis we left the line and sought put an airport At with decent food Chapter 13 hen took up where we left off * began looking for wildlife\and soon caught the knack of s hing the meager shade benea scrub cedar end eage deer* Ma and the two yo sters* heads tilted back watched seen the plane red times calmly as we passed* They ly of mule before. Although the air s cal* and t temperature mild we encountered odd turbulence at Certain locations that Jim pointed out ahead of time* He has theo as a gravitometer* feeling the mov that the plane acts t pf air away from those areas with slightly lesser gravity* du^ptobably to the presence of low density matter such as oil or ^t^pr The bumps occur / / reliably along the perimeter of knoi^ ollX^ields* and around a few other places that just might Jim recently bought a new discovery some day ceeding to teach himself aerobatics much like Ws compared notes frequently* <»7* and is pro old Waco did the year before specially in rega Both our planes seemed to resist the maneuver* to snap rolls ecision snap roll in a Starduster is di|^icult* but half a snap is even harder It Is strictly a matter rudder* and just as t neutralize when the timing — pull on the stickXand jam right motion starts* jam in opposite controls and Lane is inverted* For a quarter snap* the recovery begins before the snap actually starts �Adventures In exBiplane Chapter 13 Norm Weis Quite b^accident, I found that froira climbing attitude and at low speed, 80 or so, the Starduster half snaps beautifully. She's a Sweetheart again, lhe nose drops, but if the stick is held back shsNcompletes a marvelously quick, altitude preserving split "S” that makes a perfect turn around. soy �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weis he ins ne. The new maneuvers demanded much time to bring to compet^ce, then far more time to achieve a measure of precision The inverted spin was the easiest. I sprinkled that maneuver in among the difficult moves to maintain confidence. When I told Pat Day about the Joys of spinning upside down, he had to have a demonstration, also curious, rode out to the practice area with Pat. I could see them standing beside the vehicHe as I climbed to 5,000 feet. Any higher, I reasoned, and the plane would present too small an image. On the top of the loop, 1 pulled the throttle back, but not all the way •• the engine would die from fuel starvation anyway. She entered the spin nicely, and af^r kicked opposite rudder. Nothing happened! Something was awfully wrong! turns, I JeoA nothing happened! I could see blue sky and hear a flattering-roaring sound. 1 considered slipping the belts and bailing ou^ ^Xhat bhough^had never ItselF before. Could 1 clear the plane? Perhaps the spinning plane would wrap the canopy up into a useless ball. Maybe I was already too low to Jump. Suddenly I understood what was happening. Th4B- funny sound was the engine running, and that made the spin 30(, �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 13 Moxa Vais flatten up and bring the sky In view* Quickly 1 yanked the throttle back d the yet *» B den* »■ ewaeHy reealH lyway, the rudder again, nose dropped and the spin slowed. Z pulled the stick back ouch too soon, but the plane responded In its own time, leveled quickly and checked my altitude. Z The altimeter read 1,000 feet, which was ^500 feet lower than I had intended/ jglothe«Mle«»ed‘*'foirirMMii«k«>--i Z milled about, letting the adrenalin run down, tondering how an engine without an inverted system could run upside down. Of course! Rotation would throw the fuel away from the axis, and that would be forward to the engine! Z should have taken off all the throttle at the top of the loop. By the time I reached the airport, Irealized the rg&ideac keZe .a- valuable le-ersen in invertedy«^pr spins. The spin would flatten with power and return to normal without pmnT, ^Bbme planes will |(!p7 return to a normal spii^when power is shut dowi^rTme Sweethear^ was one of the safe ones. inverted The spin would be a good maneuver to practice sometime hi^*‘ thMirx. »,■>«. r./i 1l■lll^T^Jl There were othe^ more Interesting maneu vers to master. Zt was time to try out the Starduster's flight characteristics in odd attitudes with radical control positions. Perhaps we could invent a new maneuver like the tail stand the yl(i^^drivefdemonstrated at Oshkosh. �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 13 Nona Weis I tried entering a eontlnuoue map roll from different angles and attitudes. Vle.»3r Moat of the results were dis- ^4<t*»4**H****« appolntdaagt hu^ entored^nearly vertical eesM strange things haj^pened. dl qjre rnep er ^pln would start nonoally, but as the speed died, the spin died, and we would fall out In sene unpredictable attitude. At times It felt as though we were briefly in on inverted spi^* /ince 1 kept the power was a chance the spin could go flat, e» X kept ^^^Mn.SBe 1 experioented with different entry speeds, angles off the vertical, and tried the spin In both directions. Z failed to duplicate the Waco*a moves, but In the process, X came upon a new. apparently original maneuver. Starduster can accomplish. Perhaps It* a sonething only the X named It the '’Bolly/ermaker.** p degrees, X wait^4or the speed to Heading up at drop to 110 s^>h, than quickly put the plane into a spin to the left. She spidfel a turn or two, dle^on top, and for eM-4as£ABt ysia^ flat on her back with no rotation. Than as the plane starttf^to fall back, X fedsl In whatever control It tgj^ to pro long the float while torque from the engine bfB!^*ton a slow spin to the right. If done properly, the controls endfup with stick forward and full rudder deflection, precisely the require ments for an Inverted flat spin, which t^exactly what *^^^dolng. the plane And it was entered from a nozmal spin going straight up I X never gUe^e flat spin time to fully develop. A half turn �Adventures in a Biplane Ron Weis Chapter 13 ono, and X chop power and point her down* Old hands might argue that torque will cause a ’ plana to spin to the left* not the right, but if the boiler** maker JLs viewed from above* the flat spin indeed to the left* but sitting upside down in the cockpit* the spint^'to the right. a doaen tries to understand what really It happeni^cf. Some of the fellows from the CKperimental Aircraft Association — the EAA — were flying a replica of Lindberg's Spirit of Saint Louis about the country, much the way Lindy d toured aVttk^after his Atlantic flight fifty years earlier. The plane was due^* ^*^oon, end quite a crowd had gathered to see the show. mine included. Several homebuilt aircraft were on display* a This time X played it smart/’ surroianded the plane with one Inch wide flourescent surveyor's tape* to keep people from looking with tha^y instead oi^ their eyes^ ^Somehow the unuaeJl portion of the tape was left in the cockpit. D|gexrXt fell into the fuselage and much later* 9X. a very crucial time* X would find it in a oarsnin place. When word arrived that the Spirit of Saint Louis Qi—ft—— would be two hours late* X volunteered to jii 1-^ _ y. a aerobatic demonstration Ss emssstatn She e.i*ui>di during the wait The FAA was on hand* and X had a low*>level waiver* so the legal!** ties wexre quickly satisfied. �Mvcntures in a Biplane Chapter 13 Nona Veie At the first break in the traffic, the tower gave ne the go-ahead,, pgoaAeing to "hold u£f tiaffie fee the newt J^eti mlrnitee It wee real kick to go through the maneuvers I had thoroughly perfected -• the ones proven safe at low altitude. Bottoming out at 1,000 feet, I paeeed from loop to hennerhead to idiifferdill to barrel roll, frequently reversing then going on with the Sweetheat *s easy half snap split to the Cubans, point rolls, slow rolls and snaps, with one snap roll while going straight down,^^^-^™ 4* finale, X dove for speed, and then pointed her up and spun her into one of toy better boilermakers. It felt so good X did another. How if the crowd ^im/^arger, and I iSwf^eceiving a healthy fee^^.fy«^raaybe sometime. A month later, after much practice on diamond loops and rolling tail slides, X moved on to a couple of simple awJrwr called the pullover and pushover. Both are entered going straight up, and both end/^oing straight down. The pull and push refer to the stick motions. The pullover is Ukw a tall skinny loop! The pushover is the same shape but the plan^is upright at the apex. At that moment, the plane and pilot are subjected to negative g*8. The pilot is thrust up against the belts, his neck stretches, and his eyeballs bulge. Anythin^ loose tends JT^****-^ * ’(r-T to rise^ M w liiiHng rkeS long lost roll of surveyor's tape lying unknown in the tail of the aircraft. Xt rose into the gap between elevator actuating arm and fin post. ^The gap wasz«sMrl>ecau8e the elevator was in the down positionJ �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 14 Norttt Weis The pushover and the down line all seemed normal, but when X applied back stick to pull out, my movement met sudden solid resistance. ablQ< redweed rhrn hr Inii l<avn1 \Jb^ tP up elevator w^as avail-* n jqtMMirtn >'hu' plane reuaded out gradually, nlnrA^rn Hb ■ j^ywuMii* problem now was to get back to the airport, get it on the ground, then find out what Uku hulii was causing the blockage. /l held hard back stick, compressing whatever thadg. mysberious object was. discarded the idea* I^considered jockeyingj^about . but 5 it- i-hfe t.«iy -tt- bir^-T^ the object shifted, the chances were 50«50 that the problem would worsen, . jr T xliiiildetf 'Lu lni>lu> the ;fiick against the blockage^ 1^1 ■and lanri vHt-h fy>.♦- I <» few sfi thir greuad. ^It would have to be a wheel landing, but that was ny normal |istyleyB(**landin^ axtyway, I told the tower about my problem, and asked for a ”no delay” straight in approach. They obliged by delaying several other planes, then sent the crash trucks screaming "if/ �Adventures in a Biplane resolved t Chapter 14 Nona Weis inspect the belly for debris before each aerobatic flight. I carried that bullc^roll in my pocket for two weeks like a guilty sailor, neck slung with a dead albatross, hoping its discomfort would serve as a permanent reminder. 3/2 �Adventures in a Biplane Cliapter 14 Norm Weis €haptece"’i-4' It wa^tha first of January, and alPiMaai the tharooooatar stood at tan below saro. The two ha rdryers humming away in tha blan^^«cova^a^^ngi^ compartnant saamad to have little affec^ Z busied myself (^towing tent, sleep** ing bag, air mattrass, tie-downs, and survival gear, then plastered over the oil-cooler with furnace tape. By nine o'clock the engine oil temperature had climbed into tha graan. I removed the hairdryers and blankets, pulled on an extra jacket, snugged tha windproof hood and slid �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weis ray flying helmet over the top, slung a scarf about my neck, pulled on heavy glovesXand climbed into the cold cockpit. The engine started on the line-hand's first pul^^**! sat waiting for ^ngime to warm completely, wondering if 1 could stand the cold I hadn't planned to leave on the temperatures at altitude. coldest day of the year. The decisio^ had been an easy one. The race promo ters had offered me $300 to put on two aerobatic acts, and a few more dollar^prize money if 1 aleo entered the races to fill out the field, ^jisefacing no longer thrilled me, but I found it im possible to turn down my first chance to fly aerobatics for decent money, . ... —n t t .................. . ,ci , .i Be >. sides, the races were to be held in Mexicali, Mexico, where the weather should be warm. It was to be the first Mexicali Interna tional Air Race, and 1 would be the feature performer. They expected a crowd of 10,000. The official had checked my qualifying rolt^ and the extra goodies I had thrown in at Ken^ was the man SkS; had made the offer. The little string attached — the requirement that I also race, had^>Bfemiaiw«Ked»aa-4dxa._aldi«hee8t, Jsut to agiem would violate my promise O6 no more racing ehat j ... . 4>ad made tn Jny. ^e understood bqt deep desire to fly the air show/was granted a ^'stay of promise * for just this ame race. �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weis Strangely enough* Jay had no worries concerning ay aerobatics^ ySEe reasoned that when racing^life was In the other fellows* hand»»and she didn't trust the other fellow/* 1 felt a bit guilty about Mexicali* however* for it was ■Cii>y*e alipuft Uiat was Uw sutoJeuL of ay feweewatedi. Back then I dared not middle-fingered aalute the year before. enter the country for fear the plane might be confiscated* but now the Governor of Mexico had sen^ a personal invitation^ee— We cleared the ground at 9:30 a.m.* and headed cold and straight for Rock Springs. A little fuel* some hot coffeeA n brief sfeund e'lei. Uia"Uul eii misiiIi>tea» '^od we were up again* flying through the paraly: if vffy Lluuilr �Adventure* in a Biplane fciii 111■iiMf III I Chapter 14 1 Norm Weis cf-miTliliiii heater couldn't kepp up with the frigid air rushing The ;8filvers set in as we left Wyoming and entered the State of Utah, <11 thftiigt* ft.. cQftsplred rn deny maUrha-fulfillaetit I upped the cruise settings to raise the temperature and shorten the flight time. Clouds took over the sky and the temperature dropped the controls q flhe- >fy hand shiveved, sending small pulses th whole eltplene shlverag. Heber City and Provo. inally, we slid down the notch between Th* lower altitude would be a enduring she cut J lietHiUg uf Uie isuuiitainsi Itftsr The shivses-ceased^ as the tenq^rature rose to near the freezing level. The airport at Nephi, Uta^was untended, but a phone call brought a)Kieriff*s ^puty immediately, I gassed up the Sweetheart and headed out, pleased with the Jieputy’s friendliness, wondering idiat the town was like. I would find out all about it eight days later. Mountain shadows were growing long as we landed at Cedar City, Uta^ It was a pleasant place to spend the night. The hardest part of the trip was behin^jT*^Only two legs and a hop remained before the bright >texias**sun would warm my bones. Th^ morning was again cold and the engine slow to fire. It was ten o'clock before we cleared Cedar City and headed ^uth. Twenty miles out, we passed over land badly cut by canyons, Xt was in one of those canyons, nearly fifty years ago, that mail pilot Maury Gralfe was forced to land in /, �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weis winter-. They gemnd naury and his wrecked plane.the following spring. Maury had managed to walk six miles before exhaustion brought him down. <•» Ths pioneer mall, pilots used to have all the-decent ency landing fields marked with a white painted "V**, the uphill, or into the prevailing wind. fields were mar th a ••T”, which stood though it was plainly age t the , many of the early mail pilots carried bottles of 100 and a rough engine pu country below w engine so Doubt smoothing oil.'* like a kitten pie upside down stile enough to make even 1 underst e One swig, Sweetheart* the old time pilots thing-ol1 The rough country ended abruptly and we descended to the flat warmth of the Nevada desert. half an hour ahead. Boulder City was only We had been this route before. This time the Air Force and Nellis Field receive^wide berth as we detoured through the Valley of Fire,^2iff slid along the west shore of Lake Mead. At Boulder City I removed the tape from the cooler, and stdHtd my windbreaker and gloves^ in the baggage. The- low elevetlnn atid dawuhill runway shegfcened the take»uff pleasantly. 'Ps*' I pointed the nose straight south and watched the Colorado River meander a dozen miles to the east. turned from tan to brown, axid erupted The land below tusks of igneous rock. �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter Norm Weis It was hot when we landed at Blythe, California. After gassing upn,T-adjnnmed-..to the flight ehaek fe» «ind a da^le^^ givhni^ttw^ngine time to cool, fie ^d^ bec^e balky and haixi'xo'^it^t due se^*2he Xsw eloraSien and*^ I checked the parking brake and found it still full on, then looked about to see if anyone was available to swing the prop. Not a soul^was iu siglit. I thought briefly of y(>ing down the tail, but no ground loops were visible nearby. With throttle well cracked and ignition on, I stood between wing and prop and pulled her through. She coughed, coughed again, aH* then quit firing altogether, obviously loaded up with a heat-induced rich mixture. With ignition off and throttle wide open, I pulled the prop through a dozen times, then retarded the throttle, turned on the Ignition, and tried again. engine coughed and died as before. —1 I'gpeauiJ uhe leening prnseihiws.* Sweat began to gather under my long-Johru The failed again and I looked about for help, ^gmim^^re waf.no one in sight.s^I^jMpt trytne ■was on the third pull of twe^-ve^tisying fro .lean her out with^ fuJJLt.hrnntlg ngflla.whe^^e engine fired^4am2^ ^1nn e^ti an. . She wae kiekiwg ewem-aa I^San fo^ the wing tip. The tail was^contlng up as lMM«indod.j;ha..xaaMao«-eMMUheaded for �Adventures In a Biplane the cockpit<1 Chapter 1^ Norm Weis When T gst there the engine ws* at full bore^eeriK** the prop was chewus^ its way into the blacktop JHie tntl rudiT Jriahss flB-rtm My first leap at the cockpit peiip nhnntRiie^ failed.plane was crawling toward a gas truck/ On the second, mnyJif^s third'^^jqt^I managed to get on the wing AM JwenH eally I clawied> my way over the cockpit coaming M^yankad* I*6^^ the throttle bac^ A** N0|/there were lots of people around, bombarding me with accusing eyes and condemning illence. I was sick. In almost two thousand hours of flying I had never hurt an airplane. I had demolished a propy 1i««i ■ ■gwiikaluiffr FlMuj^y and come perilously close to blowing up a gas truck. tt, the fixed base operator, was angry neardestruction of his gas truck./ I bi e lack of Ip starting up We sooiy cooled d' )wn and coopera ated in an iffort to secure a new propeller. came almost frie The would arrivu in 'I wandering about sines in Even lually we be ly ropeIler shop in enix cAairaed tl lythe within tw^ays. It s In the process, I the mega* upon an a National record had bei tn set for en a^r cockpit biplwes in the Sweetheart's weight 2700 miles in 30 days. new prop I killed ti le time rwin's operation, then reading ai: ^s pilots' lounge nterestiiu item back about lass An hour spent with the log books �Adventures in a Biplane showed trips 1 Chapter X had broken that Norm Weis ec|rd by a wide margin y6n Vhe o Cjxiada and the East/Coas 3,000 mile: diti ths/ fact," In fact I had in 10 days, and' well over 4,000 miles aveldd n 20 days. At a later d e I ch eked with the fecord accru y and learn that r cords could ot be set "j :ter t that Iycould appl upj exi at temp t\ If for an o rtunity to se 50 in fees, and an/in uld only cost day to check in at Mexicali.^ I M-imlrcd the, iihcolj and britjxj the pron-oa~oisa«awaya to epe» tion off, imdjtouble ehetked OFF^ r"jgraiTednasr'prdp thfOUgh ~of-“the''-^ HPerfeotl.^. stalled in proper position, thetx flange was alJU right! I bolted the pi^p down, safet^ed it and installed^^ spinner. At request* the local XI service called the tower in Mexicali and arranged for ray arriv The menage was relayed from Blythe to Imperial to Mexicali. e man at Imper- tly via the same rou One of the line hands kindl red to\prop the engine. I had the feeling they wanted to take no mo chances With me* The cox>lr"'engine fired iramedidfcely and ran pthly �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 15 Norm Weis u£ vibl'Alluu. with ’^^Jteke^ff was extra quick, cular. t^e^limb out specta* The prop was Indeed bette£^ The cruise speed was a few miles slower, but that mattered little. cross country *•*“**• end the new prop Jt w«n*-fc racing or . these days* Just aerobatics, make a big improvement in my vertical performance southw follow t pa eyebal wenty se across was un e rough tad ow notch, en took he sand dunes that blanketed the es to the border The General Taboada International Airport itSf just a few miles south of the border amid land checkerboarded by i rrigat ion * f tr-the iHnd in on 1 t<^Qwnw^T^L—Tlie eApeetfed gieuii llghr d to.. ari'lTiyy^se I went srouaJ shI veil leaded fus feBaJflv ■feline' Bob Downey, formula one pilot and coordinator cf the races, directed me to parking^ semed in the cockpit "‘ig'niit Good old Red Black* t'* hcirda am T rk**- bum, walrus mustache ana stammerdiF out a welcome* as ever, over I began to feel at home* Red hustled me directly to customs ispRswder to cancel ny flight plan and enter the country officially* The 32./ �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 15 Norm Weis custcxns man spoke no English and I could speak no Spanish. communicated by writing numbers, adding question marks if not sure. When finished, the immaculately uniformed agent stood at attention, shook peating hand, and offered an official welcome, re piloto, race piloto." low-toe.*' V1 ng watching i .i ijy n^i He pronounced it ”pee] in»f— all, tinning broadly. /The vele/ briskly to/f^ce old ed, whipped a Salute, st octet ng about ’ Cenerale laught Although ' Red blushed and the hey takeXaii^orms very sal ent brdke riously 8 found Red’s emblSxtJned jacket a source o^ high Tfevlcsn e« ot of p\lot8 Stood about the ramp. joying ooKe her and disci^ussing the low ceilingX encountered mild their flight to Mexics li t A stationary fr nt was hung up over Los Angsles, holding back the arrival contestants. A few of the pilots had arri a little sight-seeing in igner Hk and he area* race enthusiastV had been b Downey had engines Art almost half th< a week illiams, aircraft d ere for several days. the race course, erecting e six-comer pylons as well as the start-finish mark. The course was parallel to the single runway, and quite close in. The race promoter, uninhibited by the Mexican equivilant of the FAA, jjaff-aakad that all races and aerial acts 32^2- �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weis gslT be held as close to the crowd as possible. He wen suggested that the scheduled clown act and ray aerobatic act be held next to, oryjSlrer the crnwd. The races took on a barnstorming atmos phere, and the '*pllotos*''^Lwad it. Mexicali, a brown and dusty city of half a million people, sprawled across the flats a dosen miles west of the The houses it the outskirts^som^ temporary. airport. Rut^ corrugated sheets and loose-fitted boards^i^ke well for the Except for the highways, streets wre powdered dust clim&te. or clinging mud, depending upon the weather. At the center of town, the buildings became substantial^ sad a distiiicfaichi- taeteure ■energed, Statues stood in mid street/ ^Iti-storied motels rose on both sides of edyswt dustafllledL boulevards oe pilots st^ed aX tlae Multday B the led first class, but diedXat the bo ca Cold wtter was on to be rocked off itS^base to permit t open, how t you had to l^d your heel y stool never/le althoug autho ity, it sed one grab rly in the e in t on ha downstairs lobby of the on must have lef the stool hikd thro door to ful y tub it in. flashed a hand th such Id. ua BMt for tel. Some- pilots' meeting Two into a courtesy of the mote ? 23 �Adventures in a Biplane Chapt Norm Weis BKistiffened, saluted, and then unlsoMa an **S1 Generale * ablush wae SMgnlf leant. eau^t on so well. Maybe t^t wLs why the nleknta When a red jacketi red haired, red isustaehed man blusWed, he eveated apeetaeulan. / CTiiMon I , / \when most of the pilots had gatnered, Bob Downey I abked for vol^teers to appear on a local television show. \ « V ' / lid, and we all volunteM^. \ f The waee wasZbelng sponsored In Company, bottler/ of several brands of Ws itood about the tWevlslon studio idille ^erid pilots ward Interviewed. The proves. Involving translation In both dlree« tlonX was laborl<^. \he lone camera often left \he conversahts peclally the mtches on Red's jacket. \ / /After the TV sunt, we dTOve \ the botming plan! for a fray sample of the sponsor's product, then adj sirnH^w eat+ns heuse for e abrlmp dinner Early Friday morning a small crowd gathered at the airport to watch the qualifying rounds. piiia.ii SiiiiMii ■!Ill 1 p—rr*T kA trial run on the course by am emperl eased hand showed that Pylon Six had to be moved Inward to prevent overflight of the runway. That was. im^rtant, since ordinary traffic would 4 �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 14 Nona Weil continue during the races.»--/Jrdinary traffic four jetliners inrand eut each dnyi plus the sporadic arrival and departure of a few dosen smaller craftX 4 It felt good to round the pylons again. Although ***4 I hadn't made changes for speed, I Jmew Uy speiw.wesi in excess of 135 mph. However, the timers claimed 176 kilometers per hour, or 109 mph. It wasdidiculoi... I told the timerB Jiise tlnnO/Wmy insisted their figures were right. Their electronic timers could not he wrong. Obviously the course was longer than measured. War-eFFagreed to let things stand, hoping the timers would at least be consistent. During a break in the action, I went up to practice ny aerobatic act, low ^nd close in as requested. The new prop and the dense air*mm2K the Sweetheart into a Toeny Thomason,friend of Bed*s,^lmo from Lompoc, California, tried out his drunk acW X watched people duck and run as A TiaaKf worked his Aeronca Chanqp in close,as requested. A Jet- liner landed, then took off, while trial runs continued without break. Formula one racers and jetliners passed in opposite directions a few hundred feet apar^ >Bnly the Americans con sidered it unusual. ■epmvyfA, in Lhe LUWf gaftt down word than-KAf uld\be no more Their kreen bulb radio eq pe Their use o affic control had been haphasard st. planes li �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm W41s At mid day* th^Callfomla contingent 4wiplved* bringing the roster of racers to full compliment. tened to qualify their planes. They has It was well after sunset before the planes were tucked away In the hangar. We stood In the gathering darkness and talked until the air turned cold. Dave Forbes had brought his Cobra biplane. His wife had flown down In a Cessna, and both planes were seheduled to race. Dan Mortenson* whose little yellow Smith Mlnlplane 4 4 y failed to qualify at Reno* was there* but he wouldn't be elimi nated this time. He had a new screamer — a Mong that he be lieved capable of more than 160 mph. j All the old ganAwas Aherej_^S<ws like Rene alir Zfw evening was<Mie s^reunlon. small bar and caf Ws took over the at the motel * much to the discomfort of d Wit t the regular customer^ O waiter^ were not happy with the noise and the shenanigans. We were sjMr "ugly Americans" for the evening. The next morning we were heroes. announcer on the public address system said. That's what the He spoke In Spunilsh* but we eamght She meaning as "brave* grande* vallente, hero* and famoso plloto" came through unmlstakab^. The �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 14 Hom Veil audience must have believed every word, for we were net with wide-eyed approval as we pushed our planes along the edge of tile crowd. We formed a line in front of the crowd and stood for introductions, waving whenever the announcer pointed in our direction. Wteu Uie gmuuucei salil “Bl Oewerale,** Bed jeaVlcT auLumatlMillyi The rest of us applauded.—Oux XureT 7‘*''rHnnir . John Schmidt, another aerobatic pilot, specting his planeSnrior to putting on his act. in 1 Wandered over to lend an eye. Onck finished, we adjourned to ny plane to re peat the process. The x^lly was clean, but om of the ailerons had a loose actuating ho^. At first X thought it was "hangar rash," and got properly angW. As I tore into the problem, it became evident that it was an\njury X had caused back in Blythe, while making that hairy scrambl^nto Xhe cockpit. X redirected my anger and put it to use, hopingXto have the horn repaired in time for my scheduled race and aeipiakect late in the afternoon. / \ Tossoy Thomason and/yohn Schadt stood closely by, offering advice, comfort, and/4t box of tools freshly borrowed from Dave Forbes, who was presently taxiing xmt for the first race. / \ X removed Jtiie aileron, then the hox^ Tommy kept track of the loose pi^ts. The hom needed rivetingkand the three of us drove down the ramp looking for the local repair �Adventures in a,Biplane Norm Weis Chapter 15 MAW^ aHiI ii'wm Mi.jj ^lyinc^ With sign language we explained the pTOblea, and The Mexican swehanic Opened up his tool displayed the\Mrt. box and we poinb^ out our needs. plated. TWo rivets had to be re- The oachfiiilc watched closely, then trotted off and promptly returned with, an exact replacwaent. the job was done. in twenty minutes The ^chanic refused any payment. Ws offer* ed three varieties of Spaxiish "thazik you’s’* and shook his proffered hand half a dozen times. / Soon the horn wa^w the aileron, the aileron on the plane, and the control cablei reattached. At the last minute, ToBaqr had to leave to 4ut o^his act, wad the box of tools was placed in the open/trunk of john’s car. prooptly stolen. It was Our forei^ relations\ad gone to belli / Tommy's act ,^s fabulous. s The whole crowd believ* ed he was drunk, ’’borracho,” just as the aanoi^er claimed. When he took off crool^ and wing*low, they could see the very fact for themselve^ collisions with I<»qr After a few wild slipping pMses and near ground, even the announcer began to believe h<m..tly dnmk. ! \ \ ^^n the act was over and Tommy stepped out of the plane, the c;towd was quiet. Then as Tommy waved and walked away, very/Straight and sober, they caught on and applauded his sza �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 15 Mom Wait •kilt and(h<i«y&wn guUabill^y, ”borra<Sho__ pilWier for thifyicsm^nder of Dan Mortensfe and Z were in the fourth vaaO| along with four other bipes similar speedi|^ They let me off first with a handicap of tan seconds — hut in lass than a lapj-A--" Mortens^* in*^^HKfe^and yellow hornet, sipped by wagging his wings in for Reno* Then avaryona else passed ma — hut what the hell, Z was here to put on an aerobatic act, not to race. Z flew across the finish line on knife-edge to cover my embarassment. During the formula pne race, one of the pilots passed through a had wake and severely damaged a disc in his , eottk. He managed a landing at the far end of the runway, and- it was some time before anyone realised he needed help. he was transferred to an ambulance and taken to Mexicali, Finally fcatwr— <we-4eawaed-thay_Xzied.J[ous-di£feveRt-plaee»-be£e*e-fi«kding —teha~~' fSair «*ff5>ld handjf* -unh a piiV'* nr*— That made a tw at us curious as to the quality of the crash truck and fire-fighting facilities. We wandered over for a look and found a frightening lack of preparation. There warn no asbestos suits laid out, and no one sat ready in the cabs. Zn fact, the crews were scattered about, enjoying the festivities. Worst of all, >seecdijag.JiftjgoLiMespsmCe«^ the fire truck had no foam, only water, quite useless on gasoline �Adventures In a Biplane fires. Chapter 14 Norm Weis The freedom from regulations that we were all enjoying J had a fffw iresj^^Howe drawbacks. Clem Fischer had to pull out of his race after a few turns about the pylons. A strange noise developed in the engine and the power fell off, making an Immediate landing necessary. We viewed his engine, tracking the dripping oil to a split crankcase, a problem much too complicated to permit Immediate repair. He began making plans to drive down the following week load his sick airplane on a flatbed for the long haul home. The stock plane race was on the final lap as I took off for my aerobatic act^ The now-prepei-tev and-±he denuL ulr cpnpaeaSsd fcg-glv^>fehC'"§yBnthiwr>‘eltmfa-gngle' yeL. I circled, scanning the long line of spectators as the stock racers strung out for a landing. Citizens of Mexicali and nearby towns lined the south side of the runway. Most of them had never seen an air show, but then I had never performed before I a(^^^^befe«e% We made a good match. would ray mistakes as well as vay better executions. j^The last of the stock racing planes landed. That was the signal for the announcer to Introduce the Starduster and Its pilot. The mmsent IS OURS I From 1,000 feet we slice downe building speed, head/d for a point Just off the edge of the crowd* The speed reaches �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 14 160 and the vires sing. We level, then quickly drop the right Norm Weis wing until it points precisely to the ground, giving the crowd a full view of the Sweetheart's red and white scalloped wing. Two hundred feet above the runway we race by the long line of spectators, flying on knife-edge « flying sideways, just like old Speed Holman. throttle to cheek At the thought i ey left* hand dweps fi'onr~the-A^ e^OTMl seat belt, and fBff^~'Ui ^ghtn»ji.2_A mild buffet sets in, and it*s time to level and climb steei£r to 800 feet, half snap upside down, dive to low level axid make a slow roll on the return pass in front of the crowd. On the climb out there's time to check the card for the next two moves, a full cuban followed by a loop. notes ^n the card tell me I need 900 feet and 100 mph. it. My We have Now kick rudder and ride the wing over through a raverf^ then slide back down, looking for 160, and then up and over, float the top, wait for the^^degree line inverted, then roll upright, hold the line, level, check the altitude — 300 feet — safe enough, then pull up and repeat. It's all so easy when you know how. ing how that^^ difficult. It's the know We are through the loop with ease, and I scan the runway below, checking for alignment. A Cessna single-engine has just landed and is rolling out a few hundred feet beneath the bottom of ay loop. Hew niee te have a broad T fbu 33/ �Adventures In a i^wmwey below;—Sweh an improvemenr over the eewtpafceh-er <ueeaibsdRSlW''*±iTtgairiN«Bdytthaa.i^^ to-aiawrt' pit belew ay euauLlue ma ul home. d they Mewe- paying me money to do thlsl The biplane grin Is back, and I hold on to It, hl|^ on the fulfillment of my boyhood dream — a dream I had always clung to but never really thought was attainable. The hammerhead comes out crooked and X snap back to reality. X repeat the move, doing It right, then climb for my finale. From 1500 feet we roar down until the airspeed reads 175, then pull up and point for the sky As the speed drops to 110, X kick rudder and hold a bit of back pressure on the stick. We enter a spin going straight up. The spin slows, stopsy^c^ we fall back down. Inverted, beginning a slow spin In the opposite direction. The We float down Inverted a bit longer than usual, giving the folks their money's worth, then point for the ground, feeling great. Everything had gone wel^ ^Xslorlous experience. X felt like flying a few more maneuvers In celebration, but my time slot was used up. X landed, and taxied to the stand for my after act Introduction. Ltouristas * avoldddf dr the/lo Ing ruck ftt-J. n of wa beer ( “al varl In faucet ter Inste h-I"had- le and ml of using ,-532 �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weis provided* A good shc^e og. the pilo^^* had developed a eimilar problem. They all hid explaj^tions. It wee the fruit — or 53? �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weis aid bmerites/were peyilag» as well-oe eliteheii hex-lunches, and tough, Mge luukiiig tWlfBiggSP _____ 4d>e endlessly and labeeieuely gumed dowH 111B‘bWB pioduct Bright, sparkly-eyed children were special* to wmA-frcna my camera. of the races. Smiling I walked through theiwewd^ taking note of the great difference between Mexicali and Reno race enthusiasts* The Mexicans were more inclined to smile and less apt to push and shove*nhecid lirUm ttniu Llmt fuimi J nt Thoipj wrc no hot dogs or Tlu umittl tsrj^ and shy, they wre inclined parents coaxed them forward with much confusion in communica tion, but always with great good humor. ressed in wealth obvious They were inroaculate like royalty commoners* Only pre sive were the /oik Mio wore unifo uni ormed citizens stood straighter terparts i mi ht not er to ms ce ey walked ightl Witho less im< exception, chestier than their civilian\earb ndered idly f the Alamo been saved If t attacking armie had lacked r coldrful costumes. 33^ �Adventures in a Biplane Rom Wela Chapter Fhotographars were everywhere* Yesterday we had politely pdeed for them, assuming they were from the local prats* Today they were selling us the photos, and their business was booming. At Boh Downey*s suggestion, I agreed to put on aa extra aerohatio act just after the biplane race. In fact, ve cooked up what should liave been a very fitting act. It was the touristaiL that gave ySptf the Idea., Z'wonld fly in front of the crowd, tossing out three foot lengths of toilet paper while the announcer explained that X had the touristas. Then, at 1,000 feet, X would throw out a whole roll and pwsssed as cut it up with the prop, while running through some aerobatics. As the first roll drifted to the ground, X would make one last pass, climb up and toss out another roll, with the announcer making additional quips. We figured the fifteen minute comedy-aero batic routine was just what the show needed. Bob went over the plans with the announcer idtlle X located the rolls of paper* The final race for the ’’slow'* biplanes was about to start. X sat In the cockpit, engine running, adjusting the two rolls of toilet paper tucked into the front of jacket. shirt pockets ware stuffed with the three foot lengths. X felt like a pigeon with a chest problem* Xth was ee be awsfcher hendieap lacn, wittrxhu slowest 335 �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 1 Norm Weis was second in line and was to take 1 counted the seconds| cCZrSiefirst plane one thousand one, one thousand two. At twelve, I opened the throttle wide, watching Art Williams holddag up the green flag When nqr count reached fifteen, I eased the brakes and began to roll. I must have Ssen sewnsing ^set sssswAb, for Art cau- tioned me with a push of the flaa. lessisd • H^^Lakg of 'tlu iripi t-pwfr on frhs bweksst Up came the tail. For a moment*^xhad it saved* Jhe» the tail bobbed up again and the prop struck, Once the prop began grinding into the blacktop, no amount of back stick would bring the tail down. Belatedly, Z pulled the throttle back, turned off the ignition and sat there hoping it was all Just a bad dream. They rolled me off the runway vdiile X held helmeted head in my hands. Elf » that was me I No one could say anything that compared to the hell I gave myself* I searched for an excuse, an alibi to explain the mistake away, then accepted the fact that I had simply goofed.^ I esmssibsr at-the L»«t mftmfnt. fl £1111 ng 1 'ifKhiiH got ny ”ge” levers mixed* ijff ihu gn HaytiB" In the ■air> leewawi LhiuLLlg'IHd— niLiri~'Trtick mmkip fnr tpood, and mnybe I fand rot^iv irhmrH ♦'hfllll ■both st the-J,ast, moment.------ - 33 i �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weis It hurt — really hurt -- pushing the plane back past * the endless and pointing crowd. wanted to be remembered as the the aerobatici^ bast liav I was the guy bent his prop. The announcer was busy calling the race. ended, he began the wamup on my toilet paper imo now* I walked over and tried to explain. saueelletn As it He didn’t under- stand, so I pulled out^^^C two rolls of toilet paper, gave them to him and pointed to my damaged propeller. He pointed at the I nodded ny head, feeling terrible, propeller, then at me. I didn’t much like myself. f still had regular aerebable aetr-to perforim - Clem Fischer had no need for a propeller on his crippled plane trip home^o^Casper. His offe^^Jea a God-send, ^CTFaeho piXetee, we linetalleA Qlam^e and carefully c short t stiXLl ran true. e cranks d\the track to It/cheeked out fine e that witl\ only of an i h deviation asured i^aar the p;^opellet tips I to fly th last aero act, thbn £er h Cl sixteen rts. the ’a pro , expect dl under o a ma of the pla to dismantle the/engine, in ove ul. Th Ct pyan sounded go ^’s short radb prop was the third and/final \aistake 337 �Zidventures in a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weis aerobatic act began satisfactorily, but the keen A edge was removed by lingering embaraassment were kind — erhans too kind! I c pg Into” f requewtely7—My mi»d ■eenBrnntly-returndd^,^to bhe atCrCTftliL. 1 I forced Things had gono fynm myself to concentrate on the point rolls and the hammerheadSj.^r**’^^*****/^^ Sjnwly-.the thwi.ll ef aewebakies feeek ever, and*I fit hesitation hammerhead with some flatty the On the downline X snap rolled the plane in one of Rancher Steinle’s ’’shot down maneuvers” and was startled to see a glider in tow pass below. The shock out crooked. Operation was adequate,^® caused the snap to come aad I climbed for altitude, reading my card, . , aresti _ _ \ We roared arching four-^f^Hoover roll, then down, leveled and flew an angled, rolled again, and half snapped a turn about Now X was with it. X flew some of the hundred moves you’ve never dreamed of that John Gillespie Magee wrote about, we wheeled and soared and felt the rare privilege of flight. I wished Bill Riedesel and my old instructor, Eldon Hagen, could see me now. We rolled and flew on edge and slid down backward. Thejatoilenaaker went so well we did a second. As X landed and taxi^ in, ar residual shame over the bent prop returned. I took^comfort.in the applause. J JJIH^ 338 �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weis The Carta Blanca people, prime eponsore of the race, had a big banquet planned for the evening. They invited Every one involved in Mexico's first "International Air Race," which was now completed without serious incident/^mid considered by all to be success For the Aawricanos it was an Band ro. the let room playing as if course the world I placed along the centffr lines Beer and tables A Mariachi kept 1 constant supply f the long 'a surprise. to every ter coursie of CHINESE food w Photographers peddled t served1 day's pictur 8, starting I et's end to 500 at $5/00I each, winding down at le on the pri icted to photbs with polaro ds and selll fight began when encroache The ce ish, compounded by a trumpets retreated € Two young men Everyone re taking pictures on the s upon the other's territory with a welcoming in Span system full of squeals and warbles. the far end of the hhll, playing fyoradically as the speeches ensued. --- -— Everyone received a certificate, a medal/^ a vote of thanks. Even the photographers were given awards, and each flashed a bulb at the crowd in appreciation, M A special / �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 15 Mona Wais photographer covered the presentation with a four-light bar Kodak movie outfit of a type common in the forties. JShe"endl«e**-evpply-of'*hee»-w»e-hegixmizig_to. tne’beWee.F The Americano pilotos were in high humor. Joking, toasting and arguing over the price of photos, taking sides as photographers rnntlmied-te-wrestl/ for territory. The speak one be striki ave his le spre^id, ivwf loud, t in itself lance of ■waited' lass with k on a the thii, came an rder^as even bntinued, w£ sho Over it all Americanos and Mexicans all ”f»nt;^^tico.** at miy PCeeding I stepped outside to escape the racket. Although it was past ten ^.m., the traffic was three abreast in both ^Ixt from the streets swirled about and mixed with directions. barbeque smoke from street vendors* carts, ^le charatLei Mexicali's atmosphere was unique. ! 4e *Dust eswewed Memieali faded qnidkiyTruui siglii as - flew north the next looming. The air was moist, and Second Sweetheart's engine was running smoother than ever^But the smooth feel was ntisleading. At 2550 rpms, th^^Stoewt propsllerV �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 15 the engine frequeniy^matched * vibrating in sympathy with the engine like a window might rattle at the passage of a heavy ever so slightly, but ever so,rapidW. In spite of the smooth engine sound, hly pynpoHoy wag tmderyft^pg ♦•>»« ded at Needles then go half an hour/latjtr, flying throug light noon, Cedar jCity/ Utah* was bel d the ff agai misping rain. ttfornia hfc 10 t was time for/a 1 eh and we/headed north again,/dodgi rain wafather ahead #as deteriorati the weather bure visit wit At 2:30 I howers t soon changed to sno r. ja we sq ezed through t ighway 9 was always g in casK of engi leweeds w The clouds dropped Ibwer low saddles north of Cove Fort^ ort of a safe land ow, offering the failure or si closure of the weather ed Uy, driven-nurLhaast by the gusty wind IT Past Scipio, the ceilings lifted a bit and we rose fee^ TP****^*^ ***** rflUrftad nf Tnafc- ^y^^ld vibration eessae^^e.^ and 1 tried to coax it out with small changes in throttle and mixture, climbing while I experimented, just in case the problem might be serious. \ I wuhUte'Fe'J”Wil fly U BIIIWM Ilf lb* .|1>4 »4w mH p^lA♦^*w Fbwtunately, gjl Will J IWUrTT. the eeltlHg liad lifted? ej^l continued to climb is I checked the magnetos and fiddled with the mixture control �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 15 Norm Weis Um thing seemed to .influence the rate or intensity of the vi» bration. 1400 feet, the wTlu tT JSy vision blurred fiaam. eeTrere* A ’>r1 hrBit< ew r seemed to explode! The spinner entire plane shook violently. bobbed up and down in front of the nose. throttle and I instantly yanke^back. My hand was on the The pounding slowed, but each Jolting vibration became nK>re severe* Maps, a cap, and objects too blurry to identify flew overboard. turned off the magneto^ Quickly I vibnafeions again slowed > but ngittn»^ pulled up the nose, slowing the plane, hoping to stop the propeller from windmilling, VJhen tJie propellnry finally stopped rotating, the caweo becTOe evideafc* One blade of the propeM** was missing «« broken cleanly off about a foot from the hub, X** A There was a sudden quiet^^j^jj^iet that I had ex perienced before. It carried the s ei bel HTiZ-j"- ah landing — another unsolicited challenge* The plane must Another foxxed J* resented' the— pnersBffilty.—— The highway below was crowded with cars* moment I j-bft bedty For a girc. up anil •retrea*! *nxe feeling passed and X took stock. We still had ^200 feet and the Sweetheart was gliding beautifully;* WiOb* ---- nr^ M’TTppTrri, It Km fl t.nh/"ar>d t-Rp t'.iih hart tgKl'g” 3^'2^ �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 15 Norm Weis years- ng^ whim Its rrgfno had e^gff "TSfee off^ ^1 ...................... ... nf t-b^ .Iy4ng . —asauriagH—eenfldeiite Waa 'l^CK^ I tightened the shoulder straps, unlatched my number two belt, checked my helmet strap and unplugged the radio jacks. I might want to get out fast, While I worked, I scanned the country for flat spots. A pasture directly below looked pretty good, but It was short and the north end was blocked by a transmission line. east half a mile to check on a plowed field. I glided Snow filled the furrows and the furrows ran crossways to the landing path. Enough looking 1 I headed back for the pasture, assuming the wind that blew the tumbleweedystlll prevailed. the sky ahead with large flakes. Snow speckled I thought for a moment that I should delay landing until visibility improved? then lawghad t-ho 4 Hag J a4ni*« nnn nn cholco. One Way or another we would be on the ground in a matter of second^. downwind, parallel to tty Intended landing path, I searched for ditches and obstacles. The cowpies uniformly sprinkled, offering a faint hope of level land. turned on base leg just after passing the power lines. I Then, as altitude dwindled, I banked left, slipping over the wires, iag herd In. the Irnwii raising the nose to kill the speed, watching the airspeed needle hover on 100, than 90. Ten feet over the �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weic ground we were still traveling at 85, and the far fence was looming. I kicked rudder hard right, then left, bamdooring the fuselage against the breeze. We thumped down, tail wheel first, then the main wheels, brakes full on. She was still light, axul the skidding wheels had little affect. A large fallen tree trunk with straggled branches raced by on the left. The fence grew large ahead, and X stood on the brakes, easing a bit at each tail bob. Each time ■/la. , the tail rose, XJiaa.XzaaaedHsa-«4&ua£-Kiat»-«£-4ihe-4e«iea» X considered a ground loop, but epocrf coasted to a magnificent stop/2^yards..^^ni the fence. yjy ,X looked up., into tne .falling snowfisfeaa th».t fad,, j ""d gp^Vw "Thanks Bosel" 1 sat in the r—4*® marveling at oqt luck, shamefully congratulating myself <•4^/0 on the landing But there were a few things I "could have done that be suLli. iu> luUuL X Tsheitid have radioed a quick "May Dajy^ I should have considered jumping « all, X should have shut off the fuel valve ** and above Second Sweetheart appeared to be intact everywhere except from the firewall forward. What used to be a neat assemblage of tubes and wires/'fiw looked like spaghetti. The engine mount was broken in two places, and the cowling was battered �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 15 Norm Weis and bent from the engine * s ayniws4-qn^ fchgeughoufc the compart- ment. Met- Ifhe ^ngine^ sagged, pointing half way to the ground, held in place^Jby cowling and safety cable. The 3/16” steel safety cable, required for racing, had done its job. Had the engine broken loose, the aircraft would have been completely uncontrollable. Up front, the broken propeller told its own story. The stub showed two kinds of faacture, A thin break along the back side, brought on by resonance fatigue, had let the blade bend forward into the airstream — that was the mild vibration I had felt. The rest of the fracture showed signs of an in stantaneous separation. That was the loud bang. blade had flown off to land perhaps a mile away. prop had The broken The unbalanced caused th^mount to break at the same Instant. Three propellers! In less than a week I had creamed three propellers — made modem works of art out of two, and broks^^he third clean off! How would I explain that to tty wife, ny fellow pilotsthe Insurance company? Half a mile away, dimly visible through the snow shower, stood a farmhous^ and I hoped a telephone;—•* Neither Mrs, Hall nor her^^yean-old son, Kurt, had heard me land, which was understandable, since the engine i|as silent. I called Jay first, and then the local ^eriff. It was a diflficult accident to explain, since all the damage 3 yr �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weis )uiX occurred in the airland nui while eentaeetng the gaeundi— Young Kurt hall and X walked back to the plane* pushed it to the fence and tied it down securely. The loose gear and baggage was all packed and stacked by the time the deputy sheriff and-&e newsman arrived of-tlie forced laudlng-from his police radio ecermer. ■ .MW*.. IrU . *-r> J He pro4 7mr>r.» 10 *"mr1r~’ It ’'loirirmTilci pioof,** ^Llis t*T'm imd Csmshirr, story got on the wire serviced** >rt was so mixed up by the time it hit the luwie town media*Z*that close friends thought I had been killed or badly hurt. long process of reportixig bO’ the yAA*--the in« nnrnnn ?"mpaTiyi end plomning ths lir*''* 1i iiiil butnn the*- AA neidemb L4) y with g After repA^'l&iij^ the date several times to the various officials* it dawned on me that January 9th was ny birthday^ ■ ■■ "»y arAsgs of eowteBipT4tt/tig my .C was gil^^ anmight**^ The insurance company instructed me to hire a guard* and agreed to send an insurance adjuster to Salt Lake City in three days if we could have the plane dismantled and hauled that distance that soon. The next evening* e*tf»^Jay* andyson* Wade 3y4 �Adventures in © Biplane Chapter 14 norm Weis arrived, laden with packing materials, tools/ and w4ah flatbed in tow. By noon the next day we had the wings off and the en» tire craft secured for travel. > met th^*adju8ter at the Salt Lake City Airport He stepped off X&*'alrliner, checked the plane, photographed «.^ov the next flight it and filled out th^ form^ out, and we ^gan the long .drive*to Casper. y ^swe was S<we So ahiuk"and fee plasu, The d^mag^ more extensive^ than ipj*—tihc p^nnc hrfllr Suspicious wrinkles in the fuselage fabric near the tail meant^the coverbe strippe^%id minutely inspected. From the firewall forward, everything would have to be new: new propeller^j^ ^aaie, there was - a benefit'lii the dlcsgteri—B investing time and money be ondxthe insurance, d make some \f those changes I had she could bf^ng a new desirable ont dance and let the con< t rest. more stick-up-the- ide forward trol stick pant-leg1 P ps a n and this time 1 extended invert install a sm outlining engi or new elevator trim could should have an inverted fuel ight and outd^de maneuvers. greater power. oil system for now I could system^'^hat would \leave a white puffy trail behind e path of each uver. �Adventures In a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weis That little problem over Central Utah wasn't an accident •• ilot even an Incident •- It was an opportunity! It had been a\proper birthday after all. work seemed endless. y The ^Ine re<|ulred a special mount tlmt had to be jigged and built from scratch. The fuselage was stripped and Inspected. ^Thd gas tank had to / / be removed and rewoi^d, then cheeked repeatedly with water to find pinhole leaks Vent tubes raxv'from tank to gear leg and wing top to prevent ^acuum and vapor lock. A new firewall had to be cut to shape and monnted before the cowling could be patterned. Finally, the fii^la^/ took on Its old familiar form as new fabric was stretched the framoi then doped and painted. Six months after ^forced landing, Second Sweet"* Z ' ■ \ heart again took perky stanci^ on the driveway In front of the house. She was a show plane now. The broad black and idilte checkerboard nose made^ the fact obvious^ Beneath that checker board cowl was an engine of 150 horsepo^^ — 25 more horses than before. Tuc of hoses formed between engine and jfli^wall, a multitude omplek passages that woul^^^end oil to vital parts even the earth turned upside down. \The new carburetor would feed fi with equal pressure In spite of the most outland- Ish attitude. A small tank hidden In the upper whig fed special corvus oil/to the exhaust stacks. Sprayed under p , the ollwould Aaim and form 3 <4 A �Adventures in a Biplane Chapter 14 Norm Weis which were now dense smoke guaranteed to enhance the new Het new capabilities / i» »» begged testing, and 1 begged to fly her/ as a pro this time. wothin the Starduster's capabilities* The nigl^t would pass slowly as worry worked its \HKy through a final check of vptal fittings, lock nuts and safeties. There would be little sledf^. / At d»n th. c«:h^/£or«d. md S.c«xl S«.th«rt was again towed to the airport/stail high, and backward. / The engine started inmediately and idled smoothly. 1 sat in the cockpit, grinning the wide grin, feeling outrageous prid.. / Brents hadr4»raus^t me full circle. Grand new ad ventures lay ahead, Quixote, X was\^ain head strong after a challenge 9/my own making, this time mounted on a more spirited steed — a Rocinante incarnate. was filled wiUi windmills. / And lay world Ia6Lz^*1' �lo Obc« agala tha Starduatar stood la tha drlYaway In front of ngr Iwusa. Tha Lata aftamoon snnlight nailaanai dsaaUngly frna bar polished wings and iana tha shiaay naw hlack«and«whita checkerboard paint job that decorated her nose. She She was a show plane now, and as 1 stood gasiag / had never looked ■ora hand sone. at her, it seemd to a* that 1 had never loved her so amch. It had taken aw six graelling ■onths of labor to bring her to this noaent* for t while, after the accident in Utah, I had been so disconr^ed that 1 could barely bring nyself to look at the wreckage "of net killed so easily. wlwsd p 10087" Bat dreano are In tine, abacst ioperceptably, to the possibility of repair. thoughts began to turn If I were to try to rebuild her, perhaps this tioa c ,1.1 I could alter the elevator trio so as to get better control redundance.'' sUybo-Jt,, could find a sore powerful engine, and aaybe install tiaot inverted fuel and oil a ya tabl'd always wanted. Maybe I could even add a soske-awklng device that would Burk the path of our naneuvers with a white puffy trail. Maybe.... When 1 finally did set to work, the task IMwmbo seemd almst ovexwheloing. The^ulwm fuM^ngn would have to be stripped, inspected, repaired and recovered. The fuel systen would have to be ewOdwoiy reworked./| The new engim would need a^ now munt, and that would have to be jigged and built from scratch. I'd have to cut end install a new firewall before the new cowling could be pattermd. on and on. And so , (! Yet by 'iTinl i PC'- '■ T — beyond the posnihtlibyAof drawing back. Once again 1 wos firmly in the grip of ny old dreasK—or obsession, if yon will—and I could think of nothing but the day wiien the Starduster and X would take to the air again. dMi now, six months later, that day was meooiy here. I thought about the now engine—20X mre powerful than the old one—about the new carburetor and oil system that would operate as well upside down as right side up, about the smke«mker, about the dosens of other refinements, big and little, that X had added. The night would pass slowly as X reviewed and re-reviewed In my imagination the state of every vital fitting, every lock nut and safety. X did mt suppose 1 mold odoep , 7 u/ �At d*wB the caravan would fora and tha S tardus tar would ba towed to the airport. Parbapa to aoa«-uiutefMUMd bystanders she would seen uuls^resslve**- snrely a rather old**fashloBed airplane rolling awkwardly, tall high and backward. down the highway. would be nuch nore. But efc-tensb to om flfty-flve«year-old schoolteacher she 6^ In a few houra 9^ would again becone hla naglc steed, the Roslnante who could carry hin hseh^bnu'shin,lag wnrld.ftUnd wAab<»endtoowvWhsBsatts fd~ fl tie i mUK � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Norman Weis Manuscripts Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1971-1987 Description An account of the resource A collection of manuscripts by Casper College professor Norman Weis. This collection includes manuscripts of: Ghost Towns of the Northwest: Known and Unknown The Starduster Two-Story Outhouse Helldorados Each manuscript contains written in edits by Norman Weis Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Norman Weis Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Norm Weiss Manuscripts and Photographs, CCA 10.2003.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Searchable PDF Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2003.01_Weis_Manuscripts Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Manuscript Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Starduster Draft Manuscript Ch. 9-13 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <div class="element-text five columns omega"> <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> </div> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1979 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Norman Weis Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Norm Weiss Manuscripts and Photographs, CCA 10.2003.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2003.01_Weis_Starduster_DraftManuscript_9Thru13 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Searchable PDF