Gillette histories

From the July 13, 1937 News Record
Bert Waite, local cattle and horse buyer, shipped a carload of saddle horses to Brooklyn, N.Y., last Saturday. Mr. Waite has been a familiar figure in this line around Gillette for several years, during which time he has handled thousands of head of both cattle and horses. He said good horses are bringing a fair price on the market, but the expense in tremendous. Through his connection in Brooklyn, these saddle horses will be trained for polo, pleasure, etc., and if the animals develop into something out of the ordinary, will bring a fancy price. But again there is the element of chance and expense. Asked about the number of horses left in the country, Mr. Waite informed a News Record representative that there are still lots of horses on the western range.

From the July 25, 1946 News Record
Members of the rock climbing section of the Sierra Club, Robin Hansen, vice chairman, and Fritz Lippman, recently picked their way to the top of the Devils Tower to become the fifth known group to have accomplished this 1,200-foot ascent. Since the 1893 picnic which recorded the first ascent of the tower, only a few have attempted the climb without the aid of wooden pegs that were wedged in the rocks at the time and have long ago rotted away. About 20 men and one woman are on record as having reached the summit of the “rock.” The two climbers began at 7:45 a.m., Newell Joyner, custodian of the monument, said and reached the top at 1:45 p.m. They rested for about 20 minutes and had descended to the bottom at 3:30 p.m. It was reported that the two men used the same route that was taken to bring down George Hopkins, who was stranded on the tower in October of 1941, when he made an unannounced parachute jump from a plane.