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.
Nathan and Mary Mason were early pioneers in Fremont County. Nathan was a Civil War veteran and served dutifully as a private for the entire four years of the war in the Union Army. For his service, Nathan was awarded a pension of $8 a month, but it was several years before the pension was paid.
Mary Annette Radley was born in Liverpool, England in 1847. Her parents brought her and her younger sister to the United States by boat when Mary was three years old. Tragically, her younger sister died on the journey and was buried at sea.
When the family first arrived, they went to Buffalo, New York where they had relatives. Mary’s mother contracted a contagious disease, ran a high fever and died. Mary’s father took his young daughter by stagecoach to Twinsburg, Ohio where she was taken into Colonel Joseph Hawkins’ family. Although never officially adopted, she lived with the Hawkins family until she turned 19 and finished her schooling. Mary taught school for three years in Jamestown, Michigan, before Mary and Nathan married on Thanksgiving Day in 1869 and returned to Twinsburg to start their married life.
Mary’s uncle, Dick Grace was working as a scout out of Fort Washakie and may have been the reason Mary and Nathan and their four small children boarded a train in September 1876 bound for Green River, Wyoming. From Green River, the family took the stage to Lander where they homesteaded at the head of the North Fork canyon on the Popo Agie river. On the north side of the North Fork is the Wind River Reservation. The land was beautiful but wild and unsettled, and the threat of hostilities with the Native Americans was a concern. Custer was defeated at the Battle of Little Bighorn earlier that summer, and only three years earlier Mrs. Richards and Mrs. Hall had been killed by Sioux warriors at the corner of Third and Main Streets in what would soon become Lander.
Nathan raised cattle and hay and apparently worked occasionally at the flour mill in Milford. Mary was the first white woman to live in North Fork canyon. The couple soon became friendly with some of their Shoshone neighbors. The Shoshones would bring items from their government allotments such as shoes and cloth to trade with the Masons.
One of their Shoshone friends was a man named Sam. Sam’s baby son had been burned in an open fire accident. Sam brought the infant to Mary for doctoring. Mary sent Sam to the Fort for medicine to treat the wound, and for several weeks she treated the wound and changed the bandages in the fussy infant. In due time the boy was healed. Sam was extremely grateful to Mary and became very helpful to the family. One day in gratitude he brought them two prairie dogs he had killed.
Mary recounted a story of when a Native American man rode up to the cabin while her husband was away on a cattle drive. She grabbed a rifle not knowing what his intentions were. He waved a note and dismounted. Mary thought it might be a ruse so kept the rifle leveled at the visitor’s chest. He took his gun 50 feet away and left it to show he was not planning to hurt her or her children before giving her the note. The note was from her uncle, Dick Grace the scout, warning her to be on alert for Sioux who were in the area and might be dangerous.
After several years of homesteading and raising children, Mary started to teach school again. When Fremont County was established she was encouraged to run for Superintendent of Schools in Fremont County. She held that position for twelve years. At that time, Fremont county stretched all the way up to the Montana boundary. It was a vast territory for her to cover in a horse and buggy.
When Mary’s biological father, William Radley was near the end of his life he took the train to see his daughter. He is buried on the homestead at the head of the canyon.
Nathan and Mary became the parents of seven active boys and three girls. One of their daughters, Maude, suffered severely from asthma, so on the advice of a doctor it was decided the family would sell their beloved homestead and move to Oregon for the lower elevation and milder climate in hopes Maude’s health would improve. Maude lived into her 60s, so it was a good move. On October 2, 1901 the family packed up and moved by wagon to Oregon. It took six-weeks to complete the trip, and Mary kept a diary of her family’s journey. The family settled on five acres in the Walla Walla valley and initially raised strawberries before switching to fruit trees.
Nathan died on Jan 20th, 1920. Mary lived another 24 years until April 12, 1944. Mary and Nathan were early Fremont County pioneers arriving 24 years before statehood. They knew Wyoming as a wild, abundant unsettled territory and helped build early Fremont County.
Author: Liz Farmer
Next up for the Fremont County Museum
September 14, noon-3pm at the Pioneer Museum, “Apple Fest” Bailey Tire/Pit Stop Children’s Exploration Series
September 14, 9am at the Riverton Museum, “JB Okie Manor Adventure Trek” Wind River Visitors Council Adventure Trek Series
September 23, 6:30pm at the Pioneer Museum, “Nate Champion” Wyoming Community Bank Discovery Speakers Series
September 28, 10:30am at the Dubois Museum, “Kids Corner: DIY Bookmarker” 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.