Don’t Meddle With The Swede
Nov 07, 2024 by Tempe Javitz
Don’t Meddle With The Swede
Jessamine’s husband, my grandfather Will Johnson, led a diverse and
exciting life prior to meeting Jessamine in 1904, who he called the
love of his life. My father, Torrey Johnson, always said of him,
“Father never packed a gun, he carried a mandolin.”
Prior to 1904, Will had experienced a multitude of adventures in what
was still the Wild West. Will’s father, Swan Johnson and mother Anna
had arrived in Nebraska in 1864 from Sweden. Born in a rude log cabin
on May 6, 1870, Will grew up on the family farm near the Swedish settlement
of Oakland, Nebraska—sixty miles from Omaha. Will was the second of
nine children (six boys and three girls).
At age 19 in 1889, Will settled first in Omaha to work in a restaurant,
but soon traveled all the way to Texas in search of available land. In
Texas he inadvertently purchased 125 acres from crooked land agents.
Will and his brother Gus had started a new restaurant there that lasted
two years before finding that they had no legal title to their land. Not
one to be discouraged, Will, Gus, sister Connie, and brother Theodore
set out for Colorado in the fall of 1895. They settled in Victor near
Cripple Creek, where large amounts of gold had been discovered. There
they started up a fine restaurant only to lose their customers to a boycott
by the local union, which they had declined to join. Having closed their
restaurant, Will still persisted in working for different restaurants until
one night a group of union men jumped him carrying knives. Luckily the local
sheriff was nearby and intervened. He led Will away, advising him to leave
town immediately!
Will with his brothers and sisters. Note his sisters are armed
with pistols and rifles. (Photographer unknown. With permission
of the X4,LLC collection.)
Will then tried gold panning on his own with a friend from Victor. They traveled
all the way to western Montana near Missoula. Unfortunately his friend took ill,
so Will hurried him back to town. That was the end of gold panning for Will. He
decided to sell their outfit. Luckily he received an encouraging letter from
brother Gus now in Boise City, Idaho. Will gladly boarded the next train.
Will did well in Boise working for Mrs. Lemp who owned the largest hotel
called Lenny’s. There he worked his way up to head cook. By the fall of 1898
however, Will was homesick and decided to return to Nebraska to see his folks.
The next year 1899 he responded to an offer from sister Connie’s new husband, Charles
Waegele. Charles needed help with his large flocks of sheep in northern Wyoming
near the town of Buffalo. Brother Theo arrived just ahead of Will, so the two
of them quickly took up ranch work and ministered to Charles’ large flocks of
sheep. During 1900, his second year as a sheep herder, Will had charge of the
lambing and produced a 93% lamb crop--one of the best anyone ever had on that
range. In the fall the Waegele ranch turned over all of the sheep, 3300
head, on shares to Will and Theodore.
Finding a bank in Buffalo that would loan him money at two percent per month, Will
filed for a homestead on Crazy Woman Creek. Theo also took a homestead and a desert
claim about three miles away. Will then filed on a stone and timber claim plus a desert
claim located on Uncle Billy’s Flats (which he proved up on and later sold in 1906).
Will & Theo ran their sheep around Bear Trap Creek. When fall arrived they both
returned to their two homesteads to spend the winter of 1900-1901.
Jessamine’s photo of a herder with his sheep—purported to be Will.
Courtesy of the X4,LLC (Mt).
No surprise, the local cattlemen were quite hostile with sheep grazing in the Powder
River, Crazy Woman and Clear Creek area. Finally, the ranchers told the sheep owners
they had to stay south of a particular area, a rather imaginary boundary. Will and the
other sheep men stubbornly decided they would cross over that line and let their sheep
graze on the open range. They felt they had as much right to do so as the cattlemen.
The fighting that erupted was thereafter referred to as "The Sheep and Cattle War of
Johnson County."
Not long after, Will’s camp was fired on by a local ranchers’ hired hand. Will physically
confronted the boss man in Buffalo, but only to his detriment. Within a week the
sheriff had arrived to inform him that he had no proof of ownership and must vacate
his land. Will rushed to town to find that his deed at the county office had been
destroyed. He hurried to Cheyenne, only to find that all of his recorded deeds at
the capitol (except the desert claim) had also disappeared.
Having lost his homestead and with a bad drought coming on, Will and Theo took their
sheep to Nebraska in the fall of 1903. Will moved to Sheridan in March of 1904 to
run the City Bakery Restaurant with one of his brothers-in-law, Ed Guyer. There in
Sheridan in 1904 Will met Jessamine Spear at church. Jessamine was still in high school,
but undeterred Will would visit Jessamine after work and walk her to church on Sunday.
A few days after graduating from Sheridan High School, Will and Jessamine married at the
Baptist Church on June 6, 1906. Thus began their long term and happy marriage, raising seven
children and working at five different ranches until they retired to Story, Wyoming in 1947.
Will & Jessamine’s wedding portrait. Courtesy of X4,LLC.
Jessamine’s husband, my grandfather Will Johnson, led a diverse and
exciting life prior to meeting Jessamine in 1904, who he called the
love of his life. My father, Torrey Johnson, always said of him,
“Father never packed a gun, he carried a mandolin.”
Prior to 1904, Will had experienced a multitude of adventures in what
was still the Wild West. Will’s father, Swan Johnson and mother Anna
had arrived in Nebraska in 1864 from Sweden. Born in a rude log cabin
on May 6, 1870, Will grew up on the family farm near the Swedish settlement
of Oakland, Nebraska—sixty miles from Omaha. Will was the second of
nine children (six boys and three girls).
At age 19 in 1889, Will settled first in Omaha to work in a restaurant,
but soon traveled all the way to Texas in search of available land. In
Texas he inadvertently purchased 125 acres from crooked land agents.
Will and his brother Gus had started a new restaurant there that lasted
two years before finding that they had no legal title to their land. Not
one to be discouraged, Will, Gus, sister Connie, and brother Theodore
set out for Colorado in the fall of 1895. They settled in Victor near
Cripple Creek, where large amounts of gold had been discovered. There
they started up a fine restaurant only to lose their customers to a boycott
by the local union, which they had declined to join. Having closed their
restaurant, Will still persisted in working for different restaurants until
one night a group of union men jumped him carrying knives. Luckily the local
sheriff was nearby and intervened. He led Will away, advising him to leave
town immediately!
Will with his brothers and sisters. Note his sisters are armed
with pistols and rifles. (Photographer unknown. With permission
of the X4,LLC collection.)
Will then tried gold panning on his own with a friend from Victor. They traveled
all the way to western Montana near Missoula. Unfortunately his friend took ill,
so Will hurried him back to town. That was the end of gold panning for Will. He
decided to sell their outfit. Luckily he received an encouraging letter from
brother Gus now in Boise City, Idaho. Will gladly boarded the next train.
Will did well in Boise working for Mrs. Lemp who owned the largest hotel
called Lenny’s. There he worked his way up to head cook. By the fall of 1898
however, Will was homesick and decided to return to Nebraska to see his folks.
The next year 1899 he responded to an offer from sister Connie’s new husband, Charles
Waegele. Charles needed help with his large flocks of sheep in northern Wyoming
near the town of Buffalo. Brother Theo arrived just ahead of Will, so the two
of them quickly took up ranch work and ministered to Charles’ large flocks of
sheep. During 1900, his second year as a sheep herder, Will had charge of the
lambing and produced a 93% lamb crop--one of the best anyone ever had on that
range. In the fall the Waegele ranch turned over all of the sheep, 3300
head, on shares to Will and Theodore.
Finding a bank in Buffalo that would loan him money at two percent per month, Will
filed for a homestead on Crazy Woman Creek. Theo also took a homestead and a desert
claim about three miles away. Will then filed on a stone and timber claim plus a desert
claim located on Uncle Billy’s Flats (which he proved up on and later sold in 1906).
Will & Theo ran their sheep around Bear Trap Creek. When fall arrived they both
returned to their two homesteads to spend the winter of 1900-1901.
Jessamine’s photo of a herder with his sheep—purported to be Will.
Courtesy of the X4,LLC (Mt).
No surprise, the local cattlemen were quite hostile with sheep grazing in the Powder
River, Crazy Woman and Clear Creek area. Finally, the ranchers told the sheep owners
they had to stay south of a particular area, a rather imaginary boundary. Will and the
other sheep men stubbornly decided they would cross over that line and let their sheep
graze on the open range. They felt they had as much right to do so as the cattlemen.
The fighting that erupted was thereafter referred to as "The Sheep and Cattle War of
Johnson County."
Not long after, Will’s camp was fired on by a local ranchers’ hired hand. Will physically
confronted the boss man in Buffalo, but only to his detriment. Within a week the
sheriff had arrived to inform him that he had no proof of ownership and must vacate
his land. Will rushed to town to find that his deed at the county office had been
destroyed. He hurried to Cheyenne, only to find that all of his recorded deeds at
the capitol (except the desert claim) had also disappeared.
Having lost his homestead and with a bad drought coming on, Will and Theo took their
sheep to Nebraska in the fall of 1903. Will moved to Sheridan in March of 1904 to
run the City Bakery Restaurant with one of his brothers-in-law, Ed Guyer. There in
Sheridan in 1904 Will met Jessamine Spear at church. Jessamine was still in high school,
but undeterred Will would visit Jessamine after work and walk her to church on Sunday.
A few days after graduating from Sheridan High School, Will and Jessamine married at the
Baptist Church on June 6, 1906. Thus began their long term and happy marriage, raising seven
children and working at five different ranches until they retired to Story, Wyoming in 1947.
Will & Jessamine’s wedding portrait. Courtesy of X4,LLC.
