CHILDREN, TODAY YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT THE FLUME; THEN I WILL TELL YOU OF THE TOWN THAT WAS AND NOW IS NOT!!!

This is WYOMING.  In the background, those or the BIG HORN mountain range, The mountains starts in MONTANA and stops mid way done the state.  WYOMING is as vast, dry, every changing landscape just as MONTANA.  Wyoming has few town, which are small, and there is a lot of vast space between the towns.  But I really like driving the highways and looking at the landscape.  There is not much traffic on the roads.  This photo was taken close to SHERIDAN,  WYOMING.

I stopped in SHERIDAN and visited this museum and it is named BIG HORN. This is where I learned about the FLUME.  When the railroad started to build in Wyoming, they need TIEs for the tracks.  The trees they needed where located on the BIG HORN mountains.  SO, the trees had to be moved from the high mountains to the valley.  The FLUME is what they used.

This tells about the FLUME.  I will explain.  They built this wooden structure from the top of the mountain to the valley.  It was built in a v-shaped and water flow down the flume.  The logs would moved down the flume.  The trees had to be 11-18 inches in diameter and 60-80 feet tall

This photo shows a section of the flume.  First flumes were built in a U-shape, but the V-shaped was found to have less water leakage and less log jams.  At the right of the flume, you will see a plank walkway, which ran the length of the flume.  Men would walk up and down on that plank to undo log jams.  Many feet up.

This photo shows a small replicant of the flume.  Just think of building down the side of the mountain, several miles.

 This photo which you probably can not read, tells the different names of the different jobs that they needed to make the FLUME work.  I will give the names, but you assignment will be to google the names to see if you want the job.

SWAMPER< ROAD MONKEY<FLUME HIKE or WALKER<SLOUGH PIG or RIVER RAT<TIE HACK<CANT HOOK MAN<SKIDDER and RATCHER MONKEY

Now you know about FLUME!!!

Of course, there are no photos of the town that was, but is no more. The towns name was MONARCH.  It was located north of SHERIDAN.  It was a COMPANY COAL MINING TOWN. Begin in 1903 and closed in 1953.  They had a population of over 500.  The company brought in pre-fab house, which was very comfortable,  Built two churches, a school, and all the different stores they needed. They had people from, Italy, Germany, Ireland, and Wales ,plus some people of Wyoming.  Everything was good and everyone was happy.  They stopped mining coal in 1953.  A letter was sent to all employees  stating that 'they would stop production May 8, 1953 and your employment terminates with Sheridan-Wyoming Coal Company.  You are privileged to seek employment elsewhere'. The company took all the buildings somewhere.  Where town was is now grassland. 

This  is a good museum. . Lots of history of the Sheridan area.    Time to move on to CASPER.