The Spiegelberg Brothers of Laramie.
Hunting on the Laramie Range is as important today as it was in the past .Pronghorn, elk and other animals are still an attraction for hunters from around the globe who hunt for both sustenance and pleasure.
Learn more about hunting and fishing in Laramie and Wyoming.
Hunting on the Laramie Range is as important now as ever. Pronghorn, elk and other game remain an attraction for hunters from around the globe who hunt for both sustenance and pleasure.
Learn more about hunting and fishing in Laramie and Wyoming.
Fishing on the Laramie Range was a way of life, providing sustenance for the Native Americans and the pioneers who followed. Even today, hunters and anglers are attracted to the area from all over the globe. The women pictured here are showing off their “catch of the day,” indicative of the tough female spirit that was pervasive in Wyoming and the West.
Learn more about hunting and fishing in Laramie and Wyoming.
Hunting on the Laramie Range is as important today as ever. Pronghorn, elk and other game remain an attraction for hunters from around the globe. Ducks, geese, pheasants and other fowl were readily available and made for “good eating.” These locals certainly hunted not only for their sustenance, but also their pleasure. Today, the Laramie area continues to be prime turf for fowl hunting.
Learn more about hunting and fishing in Laramie and Wyoming.
Hunting on the Laramie Range is as important today as ever. Pronghorn, elk and other game remain an attraction for hunters from around the globe. Children learned to hunt at a young age, often to protect themselves from all the wildlife that inhabited the area. Here, Laramie native John Spiegelberg is pictured on his first hunt as a child.
Learn more about hunting and fishing in Laramie and Wyoming.
Fishing on the Laramie Range was a way of life, providing sustenance for both the Native Americans and the pioneers who followed. Even today, fishing is a very popular sport in the area.
Children learned to fish at a young age for food and pleasure. Pictured here are the young Knight brothers around the turn of the century. Wilbur and Emma Knight were their parents. Samuel Knight, a noted professor at the University of Wyoming during the early 1900s, is on the left.
Learn more about hunting and fishing in Laramie and Wyoming.
Outdoor life appealed to the local residents who took advantage of all nature had to offer in the lovely Laramie Plains and mountain ranges that surrounded them. Town officials often organized large picnics as a way for locals to get to know their neighbors and to enjoy themselves. The group at the picnic shown here had gathered for a Christmas celebration as indicated by their wardrobes of hats and warm weather clothing.
Nellis Eugene Corthell arrived in Laramie in 1881 from Franklinville, New York. He worked on ranches and studied law in the office of Col. Stephen W. Downey. Corthell was admitted to the bar in 1883.
From 1887-1888, Corthell served as the county’s prosecuting attorney at a time when Albany County extended north to the Montana line. He had an outstanding legal career for 50 years, including appearances before the U.S. Supreme Court. Locally, Corthell served on the Albany County Board of Commissioners, as county Democratic chairman, and on the Laramie school board. He was also president of the Pioneer Canal Company, a partner in a plaster mill, and owner of the Laramie Boomerang from 1890 to 1911.
His wife, Eleanor Quackenbush Corthell, came to Laramie in 1882 from Black River Falls, Wisconsin. She taught at the newly opened Rock Creek school 50 miles north of Laramie before transferring to the new west side school in Laramie. Eleanor met the young law student at a social function and they married in 1885. Together, they reared seven children including Evelyn, Morris, Miriam, Gladys, Robin, Huron, and Irving.
Eleanor was active in numerous civic and community affairs. She was a charter member of the Laramie woman’s club in 1898 and active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, as well as the First Baptist Church Ladies Aid organization. For many years she collected good books, made portable shelves and supplied these books to rural schools. She organized the first West Laramie community club and a girl’s sewing club. Eleanor had a great love for the outdoors and natural beauty of Wyoming; in the summer of 1903 she departed in a wagon with her seven children for a two-month-long overland trip to Yellowstone. She chronicled their many adventures in a book she titled, A Family Trek to the Yellowstone.
The Corthell family lived at 815 Grand Avenue for 24 years before moving to a new farmstead on the Corthell farm in West Laramie. The liveliness of their children and numerous grandchildren filled both homes. The Corthells’ home on Grand (now occupied by their great-granddaughter), as well as the house and barn in West Laramie still stand today.
After Eleanor’s death in 1932, an article in the Laramie Daily Boomerang noted that “Mrs. Corthell’s life and that of her family are so closely interwoven with happenings here in Laramie that the story is an epitome of the town’s history for the last 50 years … she had been actively and helpfully associated with practically every movement that concerned the public welfare.”
Nellis Corthell died in 1938 after a long and brilliant career in law and civic affairs.
Photo and information courtesy of Ann Mullen Boelter, member of the family.
Dances were a very popular way of socializing, particularly in the early years of Laramie City. Edward Ivinson built a large ballroom north of his bank in 1872 that was frequently used for dances. Many bands were founded in the area to entertain local residents. These were regular ways of gathering and socializing for the early settlers.
In Laramie’s early days, fires always posed a serious threat. Without a fire department, the best one could hope for was that a fire did not spread and cause too much damage. In time, a volunteer fire department was formed and a “bucket brigade” was put into place.
The Laramie Fire Department formally organized in August of 1875 with their first firehouse located at what is now the corner of 3rd and Custer. The three-story building in the background is the Holliday Building, which burned down in 1948.
Learn more about the Laramie fires and the fires that have affected Wyoming.
