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Ten Sleep
Population 350 (est.)
Home of the World Famous Ten Sleep 4th of
July Parade and Rodeo.
Gateway to the Big Horns
Nestled in the base of the Big Horn Mountains in the Nowood
Valley, 26 miles east of Worland on US Highway 16, Ten Sleep long ago staked its
claim to a share of Wyoming’s and Washakie County’s colored history. Ten Sleep
received its name because of the method of measuring distance that was used by
Indians at one time.
There was once a large Sioux
Indian camp on the banks of the Platte
River, and there was another large Indian
camp on the Clark's Fork River to the North,
near present-day Bridger, Montana. These
camps were important to Indians and settlers
due to the trails leading to
and from them in all directions across the West. According
to the reckoning of the Indians, it was
twenty "sleeps," or nights, between the two
camps.
It took ten "sleeps" to get halfway between them. This
became the location of the present town of
Ten Sleep.
Spring Creek Raid
The last armed conflict between cattlemen and sheep growers
occurred in the Nowood Valley at Spring Creek, 7 miles southeast of Ten Sleep.
In the "Spring Creek Raid," seven masked riders raided Joe Allemand's sheep
camp, killing Allemand, his nephew Joe Lazier and Jules Emge and burning their
two sheep wagons. The raid was supposedly motivated by Allemand's bringing his
herd of 5,000 sheep into the Nowood Valley which cattle interests had declared
off limits to sheep. (Author's note: The usual rule is, "Fence sheep in, fence
cattle out.")
In March 1909, Herbert
Brink, Tommy Dixon, Milton Alexander, George
Henry Saban, and Ed Eaton, local cowboys
were brought to trial in Basin for
participation in the killings. Two others,
Charles Ferris and Albert Keyes turned
state's evidence and were not charged. Brink
was convicted of first degree murder.
Alexander and Saban were convicted of second
degree murder. Dixon and Eaton each plead
guilty to arson. Eaton died in state
custody. Saban escaped in 1913 and was never
recaptured. Dixon was paroled in 1912. Brink
and Alexander were paroled in 1914. The
public reaction to the raid resulted in the
ending of such violence on the open range.
An historical monument now marks the site of
the raid.
The Spring Creek raid was
not the only incident of such violence, it
was merely the last. "Sheep dead lines,"
such as that in the Nowood Valley, were
proclaimed by other cattlemen.
 Although the Nowood Valley is growing in population, Ten Sleep
remains much the way it was a hundred years ago, many ranches are still operated
by the families who took them over and developed them as the “foreign capitol
owners” cut their losses and left in the late 1800’s. Small independent
business people continue to keep the small community prospering.
Travelers approaching the
big, friendly Big Horn Mountains from the
east have an abundance of campgrounds,
picnic areas, lodges, fishing holes,
wildlife viewing and recreational
opportunities. From the west as you drop
into the Nowood Valley, Ten Sleep opens
before you, to your right as you enter town
are the rodeo grounds. If you’re lucky
enough to be there on the 4th of July you
will find an old fashioned rodeo reminiscent
of the original ranch rodeo it sprung from
in 1946.
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