Author Topic: ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game  (Read 416874 times)

Offline jpwagoneer1964

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Re: ROAD TRIP: A New BBM Game
« Reply #360 on: October 27, 2006, 09:49:13 am »
Medicine Bow, Wy


The name "Medicine Bow" is legendary and reputedly derives its origin from the Native American tribes that frequented the area, mainly the Arapaho and Cheyenne. Along the banks of the river, the Native Americans found excellent material for making their bows. To them, anything they found good for a purpose was called "good medicine." Thus, the Native Americans named the river flowing through the area the Medicine Bow River, and since the headwaters of the river originated in the mountains to the South, they were called the "Medicine Bow Mountains".

The area was first used by trappers and mountain men during the 1830's. In 1868, the Union Pacific Railroad was built through the area, and a pumping station was established on the river. A store and saloon were the beginning of the small village, which naturally was given the name "Medicine Bow." By the following year, Medicine Bow had become a major supply point and in the 1870's, the federal government operated a military post in Medicine Bow to protect the railroad an freight wagons from attack. A post office was built and in 1876, the first elementary school was established.

By the late 1870's and early 1880's, Medicine Bow had become the largest shipping point

for range livestock on the Union Pacific line. Cattle were being brought for shipping from as far away as Idaho and Montana. An average of 2,000 head a day were being shipped. By the turn of the century, Medicine Bow was also a major shipping point for wool, averaging 1,000 tons a year.

In 1901, the U.P. Railroad was relocated from the Rock Creek route to its present location, and a depot was built in Medicine Bow. The original depot burned down July 24, 1913, and the present depot was erected in November, 1913.

In 1909, Medicine Bow was incorporated when the U.P. Railroad transferred ownership to the town.

In late 1913, the transcontinental "Lincoln Highway" passed right through Medicine Bow. In the 1930's it was paved, bringing tourism to the area.

In later years, Lumber, Uranium, Coal, Oil, and Natural Gas were found in the area which added to the prosperity of the region.

Mark
« Last Edit: October 27, 2006, 09:56:57 am by jpwagoneer1964 »
Thank you Heath and Jake for showing us Ennis and Jack,  teaching us how much they loved one another.

Offline memento

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Re: ROAD TRIP: A New BBM Game
« Reply #361 on: October 27, 2006, 09:54:29 am »
WHO'D THOUGHT IT, TEXAS

 Hopkins County, East Texas
FM 1536 (Between Hwy 19 & FM 71)
N of Sulphur Springs
S of Paris
E of Commerce

 A forgotten community with an unforgettable name, Who'd Thought It - in a perfect world would come with a question mark after it's name. The Handbook of Texas doesn't mention a post office by that name and it's unlikely that the postal authorities would've approved such a name even if it had been submitted. No explanation is given.

The community's birth is uncertain as well, with the Handbook saying only "sometime after 1900." The town's schoolchildren attended classes at Sand Hill and the community consisted of only a few stores and residences - reaching it's zenith before WWII.

Offline MaineWriter

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Re: ROAD TRIP: A New BBM Game
« Reply #362 on: October 27, 2006, 10:12:56 am »
Tom Bean, TX

 Named after the colorful and mysterious surveyor from Bonham, the town developed around 1888 when the railrroad arrived and the post office opened.

Mr. Bean donated 50 acres for a townsite - including the railroad right-of-way. The railroad drew off of the population of nearby White Mound and soon Tom Bean (the town) was thriving. The population reached 299 in 1900 and by the mid-20s there were 367 Beanites, Beansonians or Beanilains.

After the 1950s the population grew slowly. It was 570 by the mid-1970s and it seems to have peaked in the late 80s with 926 residents.
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Offline Fran

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Re: ROAD TRIP: A New BBM Game
« Reply #363 on: October 27, 2006, 10:25:25 am »
Novohrad, TX

« Last Edit: October 27, 2006, 10:27:42 am by Fran »

Offline jpwagoneer1964

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Re: ROAD TRIP: A New BBM Game
« Reply #364 on: October 27, 2006, 10:28:49 am »
Diamondville, Wy

Mark
« Last Edit: October 27, 2006, 10:31:11 am by jpwagoneer1964 »
Thank you Heath and Jake for showing us Ennis and Jack,  teaching us how much they loved one another.

Offline MaineWriter

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Re: ROAD TRIP: A New BBM Game
« Reply #365 on: October 27, 2006, 10:43:03 am »
Edinburg, TX

 Edinburg's original name had been Chapin, but Mr. Chapin was tried for murdering a man in San Antonio's Buckhorn Saloon. Propriety demanded a name change, and so John Young, prominent businessman, named it after his birthplace of Edinburgh, Scotland in 1911. Somewhere along the way, the "h" was dropped.

Leslie
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Offline Meryl

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Re: ROAD TRIP: A New BBM Game
« Reply #366 on: October 27, 2006, 11:00:16 am »
Guamuchil, Mexico
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Offline jpwagoneer1964

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Re: ROAD TRIP: A New BBM Game
« Reply #367 on: October 27, 2006, 11:03:59 am »
Lookout, Wy
Thank you Heath and Jake for showing us Ennis and Jack,  teaching us how much they loved one another.

Offline MaineWriter

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Re: ROAD TRIP: A New BBM Game
« Reply #368 on: October 27, 2006, 11:05:20 am »
Twin Sisters, TX

Named for a pair of hills, the town dates from 1854 when a man named Joel Cherry homesteaded on the Little Blanco River. By the late 1850s the town had become the center for German settlers in the area. The post office was applied for in 1856 and granted that year, although operations were suspended during the Civil War.

By 1890 Twin Sisters was prospering with a mill, gin and three stores. One man named Kruger became a one-man entertainment committee - opening a store, dance-hall, bowling alley and brewery. Non-legal entertainments like shoot-outs and brawls enlivened the scene, but eventually made Mr. Kruger return to storekeeping.

A severe drought in the 1890s put Kruger and many others out of business. The post office was closed in 1951, and mail was routed through Blanco.

Leslie
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Offline Fran

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Re: ROAD TRIP: A New BBM Game
« Reply #369 on: October 27, 2006, 11:06:48 am »
Sulphur Bluff, TX

Sulphur Bluff was settled by Robert and Hesakiah Hargrave in 1842 on a bluff overlooking the Sulphur River three miles north of the present location.
« Last Edit: October 27, 2006, 11:11:28 am by Fran »