H. M. Hook

Hiram M. Hook[2] (c. 1830/1831 – 1868) was an American politician who served as the first Mayor of Cheyenne, Wyoming, while it was still a part of the Dakota Territory with a population of around 600 people.[3]

H. M. Hook
1st Mayor of Cheyenne
In office
August 10, 1867 – January 30, 1868[1]
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byLuke Murrin
Personal details
Born
Hiram M. Hook

c. 1830–1831
Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died1868
Green River, Dakota/Wyoming Territory, U.S.

Career

Hiram M. Hook was born around 1831, in Pennsylvania.[4] Hook served as the stage station manager in Dogtown, Nebraska, nine miles east of Fort Kearny.[5]

From 1864 to 1865, Hook and James Moore pastured cattle in a glade north of Pleasant Valley in Larimer County, Colorado Territory; the area would be later named the Hook & Moore Canyon. During this time he operated a store in Laporte with a man named French.[6]

In 1867, he moved his cattle to Cheyenne, Dakota Territory.[6] In Cheyenne he operated a general store called the Great Western Corral.[7]

Mayor

On August 7, 1867, a meeting was organized in Cheyenne for the purpose of creating a provisional municipal government. On August 9, Ed Brown, who served as the chairman of the meeting, was nominated for the town's mayoralty while another group nominated Hook. On August 10, Hook defeated Brown by five votes and the slate of Hook candidates defeated all of the Brown candidates except for E. Melanger, who was elected as city marshal.[8] Hook served as mayor until January 30, 1868.[9]

Death

Hook, Jesse Ewing, and several other silver prospectors traveled on the Green River in three boats during the summer of 1868.[10][11] While navigating the river, his raft overturned due to a whirlpool and he drowned. His widow offered a $1,000 reward for the location of Hook's burial site, but it resulted in multiple false grave sites.[12]

References
  1. "Full text of "Annals of Wyoming"".
  2. "Name". Casper Star-Tribune. June 12, 1939. p. 3. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "History of Cheyenne". City of Cheyenne.
  4. Larson, T. A. (August 1, 1990). The Coming of the Union Pacific. University of Nebraska Press. p. 42. ISBN 9780803279360 – via Google Books.
  5. "Cheyenne Photos From Wyoming Tales and Trails". Archived from the original on May 14, 2020.
  6. Watrous, Ansel (1911). "Hook & Moore Canyon". History of Larimer County, Colorado. Fort Collins, Colorado: The Courier Printing & Publishing Company. p. 164 – via Google Books.
  7. Roddam, Rick (January 14, 2020). "Meet Cheyenne's First Mayor, H.M. Hook". Cowboy Country 106.3. Archived from the original on May 14, 2020.
  8. Triggs, J. H. (1876). History of Cheyenne and Northern Wyoming: Embracing the Gold Fields of the Black Hills. Omaha, Nebraska: Herald Steam Book and Job Printing House. p. 18 – via Google Books.
  9. "Full text of "Annals of Wyoming"".
  10. "John Jarvie of Brown's Park". BLM Cultural Resources Series (Utah: No. 7). National Park Service. November 21, 2008. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020.
  11. "Silver Mining". Casper Star-Tribune. October 21, 1957. p. 12. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. Letourneau, Scott (August 11, 2017). "150 Years Ago This Week, Who Became Cheyenne's First Mayor?". Cowboy Country 106.3. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020.
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