Geologist Explores What Is Left Of Carbon, Wyoming

There are towns in Wyoming that are all but forgotten except for a few people who might live in the area.

One of those towns is Carbon, Wyoming. 

Carbon was located between Laramie and Rawlins just below where the town of Medicine Bow is today.

Carbon, Wyoming Territory was founded in 1868 on the line of the Union Pacific Railroad line.

The town was built for and named for its coal mines.

Much like we need gas stations for cars along today's roads, trains need to stop for coal now and then, which is why towns like Carbon exist.

It did not look much like a town when it began.

In the video below Dr. Anton's Rock-o-Rama takes us on a tour of what is left of Carbon.

Carbon was a scattered and disorganized community of dugouts and rough cabins. Gradually these were replaced by frame and stone buildings.

By 1884 might have had around 500 residents, many of them men with families. At most, the population might have swelled to 1,000.

There is not much water out there. So water was hauled in on railroad tank cars to fill a cistern. This really was not a good idea. Infectious diseases like typhoid, diphtheria, and cholera were common.

Carbon had a rough reputation.

The above newspaper clipping is from WyoHistory.org.

In 1881, angry miners pulled Dutch Charley Burris off the train. Mr. Burris was en route to Rawlins to stand trial for the murder of UP special agent Tip Vincent and a popular deputy sheriff, Bob Widdowfield. They hung Burris from a telegraph pole near the tracks.

The town was burned to the ground back in 1890 when a fire quickly spread out of control. It's not hard to understand when you think of how Wyoming winds can quickly spread a fire among wood structures.

Today you can find what is left of the town, which is mostly some parts of stone walls and dugouts.

There are a few signs showing where things like the bank and the Methodist church used to be.

The old graveyard is still there, with wrought iron fencing around some of the family plots and signs with some history of a few of the people buried there.

Some more memorable notes in the graveyard included:

Stable boss killed by Indians.

Sherrif Robert Widdowfield ambushed by Parrot Gang.