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with High Country Catering & Oasis Motel Meeteetse, WY (just 30 minutes from Cody)
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Old Hotel that was moved from Arland to Meeteetse |
"The Women In Blue" Larry Edgar Larry's depiction of Belle Drewry
Reservations: 1-888-868-5270
"THE
WOMAN IN BLUE" by Bob Edgar |
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In the summer of 1978 construction work on Meeteetse Creek, just north of present day Meeteetse, Wyoming, exposed the casket of a long forgotten grave. Subsequent research determined that this was the grave of the once notorious W. A. Gallagher and that his loyal friend and companion, Blind Bill Hollihan, was buried beside him. They were killed on Meeteetse Creek below the old town of Arland in Mid-March of 1894. Both men, in their early thirties, were born during the Civil War period.
Gallagher, who was somewhat an outlaw, was tall and lean and wore a drooping dark mustache. He wore a gun most of the time and was once described by an associate as being a "quarrelsome, savage, and vicious man."
Blind Bill was short, muscular, and wore a patch over his left eye, which was blind. Blind Bill and Gallagher were working as cowboys in the Greybull River Country, and had probably found their way into the region on one of the trail drives of the 1880s.
Gallagher was once described by A. A. Anderson, for whom he had once worked, as being "one of the best horsemen and ropers he had ever seen. However his reputation was not as good as his figure." Gallagher told Anderson, one time after getting out of jail in Thermopolis, that: "I captured the town and was about to trade it off to the Indians when they threw me in jail." On another occasion, Gallagher was accused of horse stealing and tried at the District Court in Lander, Wyoming in 1891. Later in that year he was tried for forgery. He escaped being jailed each time, due to technicalities.
In 1893, Gallagher had become involved with 27 year old Belle Drewry, one of the single women that hung around the town of Arland. Early in 1894, Belle began seeing Bill Wheaton. When Gallagher became aware of the friendship, he went into a jealous rage. On March 15th, Gallagher took Belle over to the ranch house where Wheaton was. An argument developed and Gallagher pulled his six-shooter and held Wheaton and Belle at gunpoint for two hours, while he threatened them and kept cocking his six-shooter. Finally, Gallagher passed the incident off as kind of a joke and holstered his gun. A little later Belle managed to slip a gun to Wheaton and then went out of the house and started walking toward Meeteetse.
When Belle didn’t return, Gallagher told Blind Bill to go saddle his horse, Fox, and lead him up to the door of the house. In a few minutes Gallagher got impatient and had Wheaton go with him to the stable. When they got near the cellar, Wheaton lagged a few steps behind Gallagher. Then, pulling his pistol from under his coat, Wheaton told Gallagher to drop his gun. Gallagher turned with his six-shooter in his right hand just as Wheaton fired. Gallagher fell with a bullet in the head.
Blind Bill brooded over Gallagher’s death and swore he would kill Wheaton in revenge for the death of his friend. Wheaton was soon informed that Blind Bill intended to kill him. Gallagher’s loyal friend never fulfilled his vow, for he was found a few days later, shot in the back by an unknown assassin. Although it was believed that Wheaton killed Blind Bill, it was never proven.
Both Gallagher and his friend, Blind Bill, were buried on a sagebrush hill near Meeteetse Creek. Wheaton was tried in the death of W. A. Gallagher and sentenced to eight years in the Wyoming State Penitentiary. He was released in 1898 after serving four years. Belle Drewry had been killed the year before by a vengeful cowboy after she shot and killed Jesse Conway at a saloon party at Arland. She was buried on a hill above Arland, on the north side of Meeteetse Creek. The headboard, which has long since perished to the ravages of time, held the strange epitaph "The Woman in Blue with Heart so True."
Bob Edgar Old Trail Town The above story was compiled, primarily from Fremont County Courthouse records 1890-1897. Reservations: 1-888-868-5270
Painting of "The Woman in Blue" is copyrighted to Larry Edgar @ Western Heritage Studio
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WESTERN HERITAGE
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Reservations: 1-888-868-5270 |
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