Leiter, Wyoming, Population 3

Leiter, Wyoming, has been a stopping point for tourist traveling Highway 14/16 between Clearmont and Gillette since 14/16 was called the Black and Yellow Trail. The town of Leiter, like many small Wyoming towns, started with a post office.

In 1892, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad came through and they established a siding near Clear Creek not far from the site of present-day Leiter, called Cadiz.

Cadiz was once a very vibrant community. There was a school there for many years until it consolidated with Clearmont.

This from Sheridan Post Sheridan, Wyoming, Wednesday, May 10, 1922 – Cadiz Prepares For A Picnic – Cadiz community preparing for a farm bureau picnic to be held in the near future to celebrate the completion of three community projects, including the building of a hundred foot bridge spanning Clear Creek; the erection of a community dipping vat, and the opening of a community coal mine, according to R. J. Hale, club agent, who returned yesterday from a two days trip to Clearmont, Cadiz, and Ulm.

The latter part of this month, the community will also vote on school bonds for the purpose of erecting a new school building. Two boys’ and girls’ clubs were organized by the club agent at Cadiz, and Miss Evelyn Black met with the ladies in outlining home demonstration work for the summer.

Bert Stilts, Clearmont community chairman, assisted in the organization of the clubs. The club agent visited the Clearmont school yesterday morning, and a poultry club was organized. The sewing club under the leadership of Mrs. J. W. Westbrook is rapidly becoming one of the best clubs in the state. A sewing club was organized at Ulm with Mrs. J. W. Carson appointed as leader. The club meets May 24th for the first time.

In 1918, a tar-papered shack was built to house the post office at the siding with Albert F. Winiker as the postmaster. Winiker ran the post office and a mercantile until 1932. Then he bought land from L.Z. Leiter Estate and moved his business from near the railroad to the present location at the intersection of the Passaic Road and the Black and Yellow Trail.

Melanie Thomas Klier, who, with her husband, Steve, currently own the town of Leiter, “Population 3,” Klier said. They also own and operate the Leiter Bar and Cafe. Klier talked about some of the history of the building.

The road between Gillette and Buffalo didn’t always go past Leiter. This was from The Sheridan Enterprise, December 23, 1918 – Sheridan County Commissioners met on Dec. 3, 1918 all members present. There was presented to the Board a petition, properly signed, asking for the establishment of a public road from Cadiz, Wyo. to the Montana state line, which petition was accompanied by a plat of the survey of the proposed line of road, whereupon the Board by motion duly made and carried appointed W. H. Marvin, viewer, and directed that he proceed to the line of the proposed road and make a thorough investigation of the feasibility thereof and the benefits to the residents and taxpayers living adjacent thereto, together with the probable cost of placing the road in condition for travel, and report his findings at the next meeting of the Board.

Later the Black and Yellow Trail was re-routed so the road, then gravel, ran right past where Leiter is now.

This from Campbell County Record, October 6, 1921 – It was decided that at the present time the only change in the location of the Trail be that it should follow the railway from Gillette to Arvada. Clearmont, then to Ucross and over the mountain, cutting out the detour to Powder River at Sussex. The quotas for the various towns along the route were discussed and the amount that town should be asked to pay was decided upon and the various towns should be notified.

Much credit is due the state officers, the Buffalo Commercial Club and the ladies of the Congregational church for the manner in which the state meeting was handled and for the general good feeling which prevailed during and after the meeting. —Buffalo Bulletin.

And again, from the Campbell County Record on October 20, 1921 – The Black and Yellow Trail Association held a very successful meeting at Buffalo September 28, over fifty delegates being present. They plan to raise a budget of $12,000, the money to be used in re-marking and publicity purposes. They also decided to follow the C-B-H (probably CBQ Railroad) from Gillette through Arvada to Clearmont and give up the Sussex road which they have been using for the last eight years.

The Sussex Road comment was interesting. In the Official Automobile Blue Book, which was a series of road guides for motorists traveling North American, in the 1914 edition, it talks about the route from Gillette to Buffalo. At that time the book mentioned crossing the Powder River and then following the road to Crazy Woman Creek, and motorists had to cross Crazy Woman before reaching Buffalo. The new route proposed in 1921, though Arvada, Leiter and Clearmont, was 50 miles shorter and a much easier drive.

It wasn’t until the late 1920s and early 1930s, that the paving work began on the Black and Yellow Trail.

Leiter is most famous for Joe’s Place, a motel, cafe, bar and trading post, which was named for the owner, Joe Trollan. He bought the business in 1934, and owned it until 1968, when he sold it to his son. According to information on display at the Leiter Bar and Cafe, Trollan believed in advertising his business. At one time “Joe’s Place for Beer” signs were seen all along Highway 14/16 from the South Dakota state line to Leiter. He built cabins and at one time Leiter was a popular stopping place to break up the travelers’ journeys.

This from the Wyoming Stockman-Farmer March 1, 1922 – The Leiter and Clearmont Farm Bureau held a joint meeting Saturday. February 18, for the purpose of listening to J. E. Patrick and L. F. Johnston explain the plans for marketing of cattle and poultry. Twenty-two persons made the trip from Leiter to Clearmont.

The C. B. & Q. railroad made a stop at Leiter, at the special request of the Leiter Farm Bureau. It is the custom for the C. B. & Q. to only make stops at the stations during the night and through an organized request this stop was made during the day.

Leiter went through several owners, including John and Joyce Zak, who ran the bar for several years. Zak added a dance hall in the back of the cafe, and had a collection of live rattlesnakes confined in a glass-fronted case near the front door of the cafe were always sure to make visitors jump.

Martha Craven from Buffalo purchase Leiter in 1994 and renamed it the Leiterville Supper Club.

Today, Leiter is owned by Steve Klier and Melanie Thomas Klier, who purchased it from the Craven estate. Melanie grew up on a ranch near Leiter, and she had this to say about their plans for the Leiter Bar and Cafe.

There is still a full-service post office at Leiter as well, where local residents can get mail, mail letters and packages and purchase stamps.

Melanie said that Leiter has always been a part of her history for a long time, and Steve and Melanie had their wedding reception there when Martha Craven owned it.

Leiter currently has five summer cabins for travelers, a cafe serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, a full bar and package liquor. Eatons Dude Ranch wranglers stop there every spring when they drive the dude horses up from Ethete to Eaton’s Ranch at Wolf, Wyoming. Each year near the end of June there is a motorcycle rally at Leiter as well. Hunters can also book the cabins during the October hunting season.

Klier said that when they have some pedal bike riders stop by and book a cabin during the summer. They also allow free camping for them out front.

So, if you’re traveling Highway 14/16, drop by Leiter. As the menu says,

Thanks to Melanie Klier and the book “Leiters to Littles,” by Clearmont Historical Group and Leland (Bud) Sanders for the history of Leiter.