Return to Main Article: Ghost Rock Reckoning

Places of Note for Ghost Rock Reckoning

The main plot of the campaign revolved around the encounters taking place in the Deadlands reality of 1884 Wyoming. 

1884 Territory of Wyoming

Centennial

The history of Centennial is relatively short, but it is a story of boom and bust and boom. In 1868, a railroad tie camp was established in the mountains near Centennial Valley. The workers were driven off by an Indian raid in 1869, but the following year, the first homestead was staked out in the valley. During the next decade, most of the land was claimed by homesteaders. In 1875, gold was discovered in Centennial Valley. The new town of Centennial and the Centennial Mine were named the next year in honor of the United States’ 100th birthday. The gold rush brought a flood of miners and prospectors to the area, and Centennial quickly became a thriving town. By 1877, most of the gold had been removed from the mines, but Centennial remained a thriving community albeit a tent town. Merchants who had come to serve the miners stayed to serve the nearby ranchers. In 1882, ghost rock was discovered in a deeper section of the gold mine, and the town returned to prosperity. In 1884, a post office was established in Centennial. This marked the official beginning of the town, and it was a sign of its continued growth and prosperity.

Cheyenne

Before the nineteenth century, the area around Cheyenne was traditionally inhabited by the Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples. In 1867, the Denver-Pacific Railroad surveyed a townsite at Crow Creek Crossing, and the first settlers arrived in July of that year. The town was named Cheyenne after the local Native American tribe. The settlement quickly became a major stop on the transcontinental railroad, and it grew rapidly. By 1868, the town had a population of over 5,000 people, and became a bustling frontier town, with saloons, gambling halls, and hotels. It was also a major center for the cattle trade. In 1869, Wyoming became a territory, and Cheyenne was designated as the territorial capital. The town continued to grow and prosper throughout the 1870s as new businesses were established and new buildings were constructed. The Cheyenne Club, first known as the "Cactus Club," was established in 1880 by several wealthy cattle stockmen and received international attention because of the European cattle barons who spent their summers in Cheyenne minding to their ranches and the winters in Europe. In 1882, the Cheyenne Opera House was built, and it quickly became one of the most popular cultural attractions in the region. The town became known as the "Magic City of the Plains" because of its rapid growth and electric lights which array the town.

Dayspring Sanatorium

Dr. Alvin Hammond always wanted to practice frontier medicine. He was born in 1842 in New York City to a family of physicians. During his late teens, his elder sister Christine contracted tuberculosis and Alvin nursed her until her death three months later. At twenty, he enrolled in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University (then Columbia College), completing his medical training in 1865. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1869. Following conventional thinking of the times, he went to live in the Rocky Mountains, seeking a change of climate. He spent as much time as possible in the open and subsequently regained his health. In 1872 he moved to Salt Lake City and established a small medical practice. In 1878, Hammond read about Prussian success in treating tuberculosis with the "rest cure" in cold, clear mountain air. Following this example, he left his comfortable life in Salt Lake City, and traveled east to establish the Hammond Sanatorium in February 1879.  Looking for seclusion to work with patients suffering from debilitating illnesses, Hammond purchased a tract of land with solid water rights formerly owned by the Melton family and built his sanatorium for the benefit of all mankind. Patients were exposed to plentiful amounts of high altitude, fresh air, and good nutrition, helping treat illnesses such as tuberculosis. While the sanitarium did not offer its services free-of-charge, it treated poorer patients at less than cost, and fund-raising was a constant concern. Originally created to advance scientific research about the human body, his personal funding dwindled, and Hammond was forced to either change from the initial scope of the sanatorium’s purpose and shift toward private care for those who could afford his rates. Worried about malcontents in the area, he conscripted protection against bandit and Native American attacks from (Capt. Henry) Foster’s Fusiliers under the command of Sgt. Henry Whytal.

Howell

As a minor mail drop for the Denver-Pacific Railroad, Howell was “adopted” by William Bosley when he moved to the Eighth of the Bar Ranch in 1880. The definition of “hard scrabble”, Bosler grew the town with a collection of folks lacking the basics to survive the harsh wilderness of the Wyoming Territory. Eventually the town accumulated enough citizens for Bosler to petition the territorial government to incorporate the town and elect James Avery Thomisee as its mayor as the sole candidate running for office. With his arrival in 1884, the town was “sold” to James Dutton to encourage growth and to protect its citizens from the terrible things that wander the Weird West.

Laramie City

The first Europeans to visit the area later named Laramie City were French fur trappers in the early 1800s. In 1817, a French-Canadian trapper named Jacques LaRamie built a trading post on the Laramie River, and although abandoned in 1823, it gave the river and the future city its name. In the 1840s and 1850s, the area around Laramie became a popular stopping point for travelers on the Oregon Trail and the California Trail. In 1851, the US Army established Fort Sanders near the Laramie River, built to protect travelers from Native American attacks. In 1867, the Denver-Pacific Railroad began construction of its transcontinental line through Laramie. The railroad reached the area in May 1868, and the town quickly grew into a major railroad center, and a major supply point for the US Army and for settlers in the Wyoming Territory. In 1869, Laramie was incorporated as a town. By the early 1870s, Laramie had a population of over 2,000 citizens, having a variety of businesses, including hotels, saloons, restaurants, and stores. As the second largest population center in the Wyoming Territory, Laramie City has always been seen as a place for folks to survive if they couldn’t succeed in Cheyenne. Never as opulent as Cheyenne, the town still holds its unique style and cultural value, even as an important stop on the Denver-Pacific rail line.

Piedmont

Piedmont has been closely tied to the construction of the Denver-Pacific Railroad. In 1867, Moses Byrne, an English immigrant, settled in the area to produce railroad ties for the railroad. He built several kilns to produce charcoal, which was used to power locomotives. Charles Guild, another Mormon pioneer, also established one of the first ranches in the Wyoming Territory in Piedmont. In 1868, the Denver-Pacific Railroad reached Piedmont, and the town quickly became a tent camp for railroad construction crews. A roundhouse and water tank were built to support the railroad, and Piedmont became an important stop on the transcontinental line. In the late 1860s, Piedmont had a population of about 20 people, and it was a thriving frontier town with several saloons, a store, and even a school. Currently, there are many more structures built and the population has swelled to over 400 people, and while most of the townsfolk are directly connected to the Denver-Pacific Railroad Company or the Evanston Lumber Company, the town is still considered “hard scrabble” with most folks living a subsistence lifestyle.

"Deadlands: Map of the Weird West" by © Pinnacle Entertainment Group, "1884 Territory of Wyoming" by RPG Dynamite

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