Meeteetse, Wyoming
History
1877
Otto Franc first comes to the future area of Meeteetse.
1878
Otto Franc files on land west of the future site of Meeteetse.
1879
Otto Franc brings cattle from west Texas and western Montana to start the Pitchfork Ranch.
September 15, 1882
Otto Franc started the Big Horn’s first post office at his ranch.
Summer of 1883
Margaret Wilson took over the post office from Franc and moved it to her family’s ranch on Mee-tee-tse Creek. She files with the federal government as the Meeteetse Post Office. This was the first time the Meeteetse spelling was used.
March 3, 1886
Otto Franc presented a petition to the Wyoming Territorial County Commission for a bridge to be built across the Greybull River to accommodate traffic on the Meeteetse Trail, as it was now called by the mail carriers.
April 9, 1886
Bids were opened to construct the bridge. Slatterly and Landon’s bid for $1,930 to build a bridge at the mail carrier’s crossing was accepted. This was ¾ of a mile downstream from the wagon crossing. Their bid included a road to be built from the old road to the new bridge.
November 9, 1886
The bridge is completed, and William McNally drives the first wagon across the bridge. During its construction McNally built his blacksmith and wagon shop within feet of the bridge. A.C. Thomas moved his store from Wood River to a site near the bridge.
1888
Margaret Wilson moved her post office to a site near the north side of the bridge, but Margaret neglected to notify the federal postal department. Mail continued to be carried addressed to Meeteetse and has for over 100 years. There have been six locations for the Meeteetse Post Office.
1893
William McNally purchased the Meeteetse town site from the U.S. government for six dollars. Prior to the federal government owning the land, the Crow Indians owned it and it was theirs when the bridge and McNally’s shop and Thomas’ store were illegally built. By that time a few more people had unlawfully built businesses and homes near the bridge and McNally offered them their lots for $1 a piece.
1894
Meeteetse got its first newspaper, the Meeteetse News, owned by J.R. Baird.
August 1, 1895
Meeteetse got its second newspaper, the Big Horn County News, printed by the News Publishing Company, owned by A.A. Anderson.
1896
The town site was plotted when the Thomas Addition was added to McNally’s original purchase.
June 1901
Meeteetse elected their first mayor and four councilmen and after they were in office, the council appointed the first town marshal and police justice.