My grandmother, Marjorie V. Camp, was born in Thermopolis, WY. Her farther, William "Bill"Camp, came west from Arkansas as a young man to work on the Buffalo Bill Dam outside of Cody, WY and later homesteaded on Cottonwood Creek (just past the Legend Rock petroglyphs), thirty or so miles west of Thermopolis and one drainage north from our current location. Her mother, Lois Mae Nightingale, came from Hutchinson, MN, over Birds Eye Pass and arrived in the area as a new school teacher for the Happy Hollow School on Cottonwood Creek. They lived there for many years until Bill bought a herd of Holstein dairy cows which turned out to be infected with TB and they lost the farm.
My grandfather, Fred V. Becker and his mother, came from his birth place of Wild Horse, CO, when he was in his teens, to the Curtis Ranch, thirty miles up Owl Creek, to stay with his sister and her husband, who were working for Curtis'. My grandfather helped as a camp tender and sheep herder.
The two met while my grandmother was in High School and my grandfather was working for the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCCs). They lived in various places in Hot Springs County as well as a stint in MT. My grandfather worked full time as a farmer/rancher, as well as 14 years as a welder for Empire Oil in Hamilton Dome.
My grandparents, bought the first portion of what was to become, the Becker Family Stock Farm, from Arch & Irene Merrill around 1957. As my grandmother use to tell it, everyone who wanted to buy the property wanted Mrs. Merrill's "little house", but she didn't want to leave it. When my grandfather came asking, he told her, "...it's to small for us. We'll build our own place and you can stay as long as you want." So he was able to purchase the 150 acre property for $12,000.
My grandfather, Fred V. Becker and his mother, came from his birth place of Wild Horse, CO, when he was in his teens, to the Curtis Ranch, thirty miles up Owl Creek, to stay with his sister and her husband, who were working for Curtis'. My grandfather helped as a camp tender and sheep herder.
The two met while my grandmother was in High School and my grandfather was working for the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCCs). They lived in various places in Hot Springs County as well as a stint in MT. My grandfather worked full time as a farmer/rancher, as well as 14 years as a welder for Empire Oil in Hamilton Dome.
My grandparents, bought the first portion of what was to become, the Becker Family Stock Farm, from Arch & Irene Merrill around 1957. As my grandmother use to tell it, everyone who wanted to buy the property wanted Mrs. Merrill's "little house", but she didn't want to leave it. When my grandfather came asking, he told her, "...it's to small for us. We'll build our own place and you can stay as long as you want." So he was able to purchase the 150 acre property for $12,000.
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