A series where we take a #lookback at the stories and history of our community, brought to you by Mick Pryor, Financial Advisor with Edward Jones.
James Kime was one of the early settlers at Miner’s Delight up in the Wyoming gold fields. James Kime was born in Pennsylvania in 1836 and moved to join his older brother, Levi in Nebraska when he was 21. The two brothers were among the first farmers to plow the soils of Nebraska. After two summers working the farm James Kime grew restless and moved west to Colorado first settling in what would become Denver. He purchased lots in early Denver and built a cabin, but the gold bug bit, and he sold his cabin and moved to the gold fields to prospect for three years. Kime then tried his hand at ranching in Colorado Springs. His next endeavor was peddling wares to farmers in southern Colorado and New Mexico.
By 1866 the transcontinental railroad was under construction and was still 100 miles east of what would become Cheyenne. Cheyenne was being platted out, and Kime saw an opportunity to make his fortune in Cheyenne. When he arrived Cheyenne was a tent city with only one permanent building made of logs. Kime filled his wagons with wares and drove to the end of the line to sell his goods to the railroad workers and shuttled passengers to and from Cheyenne. As the railroad grew closer he purchased another team and worked grading the tracks around the depot. About this time, he had an attack of rheumatism that rendered him an invalid for nearly three years.
Before he was fully recovered he decided to try his luck in the gold fields around South Pass. He hired two men to drive his teams and wagons full of supplies to the gold fields. The year was 1869. Kime kept his teams busy hauling logs and building materials used to build Atlantic City and hauled cord wood to Miner’s Delight.
Kime established himself at Miner’s Delight and opened a store and eventually bought a controlling interest in the mine and the mill at Miner’s Delight. In 1872 he was appointed postmaster at Miner’s Delight, a position he held until 1900. A postal inspector once objected to him selling alcohol in the same room as his post office, but no one else wanted to handle the mail, so the issue was dropped. Also in 1872 Kime was elected County Commissioner of Sweetwater County which included what is today Fremont County. He ran as a Democrat.
In 1874 he married Caroline Chapin, a widow who was running a hotel in South Pass. There is some indication prostitutes used her hotel as a place to conduct business. Both Kime and his wife invested their earnings in ranches, his 320 acres was the original Eagle Ranch site on Willow Creek near Dry Lake and hers of 160 acres on Twin Creek. They were a prosperous, powerful couple.
Kime was elected to a term in the Wyoming Territorial Legislature in 1886, and in 1892 he was elected to the State Senate. His performance in that office led to his nickname “Cocktail Jimmy”. C.G. Coutant reported that “the drunkenness of Senator Kime was the real reason Lander did not get the Agricultural College.” Evidently, during a crucial vote leading to the building of the Agricultural College in Lander, Kime was too drunk to attend the senate proceedings and cast his vote. The Wyoming Journal reported in 1933 that, “Mr. Kime, who yielded to his weakness for strong drink, was not on the job when the opportunity to build the college should have passed.” He was given the nickname “Cocktail Jimmy” and was not re-elected to office. The Agricultural College ended up in Laramie despite many, many disappointed supporters in Lander.
James Kime lived until 1907 and as he requested is buried next to Mike Murphy, the original oil man in Wyoming at Mount Hope Cemetery in Lander. His obituary was printed in the Wind River Mounteer. His wife Caroline probably died at Miner’s Delight and preceded him. She is also buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.
Author: Liz Farmer
Photo: Miners Delight circa 1888
Next up for the Fremont County Museum
December 7, 11am at the Dubois Museum, “Christmas Open House”
December 7, 11am at the Dubois Museum, “Kids Corner: DIY Christmas Ornament” Bailey Tire/Pit Stop Children’s Exploration Series
December 7, 2-4pm at the Riverton Museum, “Santa’s Workshop” Bailey Tire/Pit Stop Children’s Exploration Series
December 7, 10-4pm at the Riverton Museum, “Christmas Open House”
December 14, 6-8pm at the Pioneer Museum, “Old Fashioned Christmas” Bailey Tire/Pit Stop Children’s Exploration Series
December 21, 6-8pm at the Riverton Museum, “Ghosts of Christmas Past: Alma Law” Bailey Tire/Pit Stop Children’s Exploration Series
Call the Dubois Museum 1-307-455-2284, the Pioneer Museum 1-307-332-3339 or the Riverton Museum 1-307-856-2665 for detail regarding their programs.
The Dubois Museum, the Pioneer Museum in Lander and the Riverton Museum need your financial support. In the current economic environment, the museums are more reliant than ever on donations from the private sector to continue to provide the quality programs, collections management, exhibits and services that have become their hallmark over the last four years. Please make your tax deductible contribution to be used specifically for the benefit of the museum of your choosing by sending a check to Fremont County Museums 450 N 2nd Rm 320 or taking it directly to the museum you choose to support.