The Cavalry Rides to the Rescue Through Birdseye Pass

Sergeant Ricks.

Sir?

Wind River Canyon is blocked by a rock slide. Do you know the old stage coach road to Thermopolis through Birdseye Pass?

Yes Sir.

Take a duce-and-a-half and go that way. Take Sergeant Raymond with you. And hurry.

We’re on our way Sir.

I'd never driven to Thermopolis via the Birdseye Pass road. Until that moment in 1958 I'd never heard of a Birdseye Pass. But I did know where, north of Shoshoni, a gravel road left Highway 20 and headed in a direction likely to take it to Thermopolis, 15 to 20 miles away. A commanding officer confronting a military crisis does not want nuanced answers.  

Six decades ago this sign would have been reassuring. It did not exist then, 
nor did the fence and cattle guard. Just a road headed off into empty country, 
to the right destination we hoped.

thermopoliswyoming.blogspot.com

                                         

John Raymond and I had shared adventures before. He had been my best friend off and on since, when?, second grade probably. We had been exploring wild areas of Fremont County since the day, shortly after I turned 15, my grandfather loaned me the keys to his Jeep and never got them back. Now we served together in the Wyoming National Guard, Battery C, 349^th Field Artillery Battalion, Armored.

Lander Stage, Scribner's Magazine, 1904 

(Wyoming Tales and Trails)

A hundred years of military traffic

Other cavalry detachments had ridden through Bird’s Eye Pass long before John and I did that day. Well into the 1900s all traffic between the Wind River and Big Horn Basins travelled the pass. Stage coaches provided public transport. A stage line ran between Lander and Thermopolis during the summer, between Ft. Washakie and Thermopolis year round. Passengers could overnight at the Bird’s Eye Hotel at the south end of the pass. 

By 1913 the Burlington Northern tracks had been dynamited through Wind River Canyon, instantly putting the stage coaches out of business. The Birdseye continued as the only motor route, passable in fair weather with fingers crossed, until the early 1920s, when the highway through the canyon was opened.

Birdseye Hotel, c. 1900 (Wyoming Tales and Trails)

Birdseye Hotel in the winter, c. 1908 

(Wyoming Tales and Trails

Advertisement for Voss Stage Express, 1905

 (Wyoming Tales and Trails)

Thermopolis came into sight finally, as promised and to my relief. John and I were concerned, however. It was Saturday. The bottling plant might be closed. We didn’t know how to contact the manager.

Backing up six months . . . .

 

The previous winter our Guard unit had contracted to sponsor an air show in Riverton. Money was to be raised for amenities at the armoury.

The agreement was straightforward. The Show—that is, the company supplying the planes, pilots, and entertainment—claimed the gate receipts to a certain figure. That amount was guaranteed by the Battery. Receipts above the guarantee would be split.

The Battery would own the concession profits. That was an important consideration, given that cold soft drinks would sell well under the August sun.

Face needed to be saved; so did butts

The strategic goal determined, tactical planning began. Immediately an imminent threat was identified. Our troops could secure the airport and charge admission. But people could easily pull off the highway into the sagebrush and watch the air events for free.                 

The amount guaranteed to the Show loomed large as August approached. If the gate receipts did not cover the guarantee the concession money would be our first backup. Any remaining liability would pass personally to third parties: the Battery officers who signed the contract.

Recent rock slide closes Wind River Canyon 

(Wyoming Department of Transportation)

At the airport that morning our CO, 1st Lt. Frank Andrews, was maintaining his command presence, though the effort showed. “The soft drinks are loaded and ready to leave the bottling plant in Thermop. But Wind River Canyon is blocked by a rock slide. We’ll have to haul the pop ourselves and try to get it here in time. Sergeant Ricks. Do you know the old stage coach road through Birdseye Pass?”

The mission fails

Sergeants Ricks and Raymond returned from Thermopolis driving an empty truck. As they searched for Lt. Andrews to report, a sizable crowd was already milling inside the airport fence and a long line of paying customers was backed up at the entrance gate.                

People were examining the small cluster of brightly painted planes on the tarmac. The barrel of a 155 mm howitzer, self propelled, swung in arcs as the gunner demonstrated its action. A weapons exhibit--from a Colt 45 to a 50 caliber machine gun and a bazooka--attracted passersby.

The battery cooks had set up their field kitchen and were preparing to sell hamburgers and hot dogs. The soft drinks were chilling in tubs of ice, almost ready for sale.

The bottling plant manager in Thermopolis had called the Highway Patrol. The Highway Patrol had arranged for an emergency track to be opened through the slide area for the truck hauling the soft drinks. When the cavalry showed up half an hour later, a patrolman waved them around the long line of waiting civilians too.

Looking north into the Wind River Canyon, with the Thermopolis area visible in the 
distance. The Birdseye Pass route crosses the rough country to the east. 

(CTM Image Gallery)

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