Explore History Programs This Month to Feature Historic Tie Hacks of Southern Wyoming

The Sheridan Community Land Trust invites you to explore history this month at The Hub on Smith and the Tongue River Valley Community Center. October’s programs will feature Historic Tie Hacks of Southern Wyoming (circa 1906-1912) with Dave McKee as the featured presenter. Explore History will be held Tuesday, October 11 at The Hub on Smith in Sheridan and again on Tuesday, October 19 at the TRVCC in Dayton. Both programs will begin at 10:30 am and run until 12 noon. 

In the early 1900s, Carbon Timber Company established winter camps in the Sierra Madre Mountains along the Wyoming/ Colorado border where tie hacks used their broad axes to produce hand-cut railroad ties for the nation’s expanding railway system. Through historic photographs and evidence from archaeological investigations, Dave McKee will review the life and times of the historic tie hacks in the Sierra Madre Mountains.

Dave McKee is currently president of the Fort Phil Kearny/ Bozeman Trail Association. He recently completed a 34-year career with the U.S. Forest Service as an archaeologist, tribal liaison, and recreation program manager, working on the Medicine Bow, Black Hills, and Bighorn National Forests. This Explore History program offers open conversation for community members to share their memories or historical information about these sites. The Explore History program is generously funded by the Next50 Initiative.