Typescript memoirs between cardboard boards with handsewn and taped binding, with annotations in pencil and ink in two hands, describing John Robson's experiences as a young man in Wyoming from 1911 to 1915. Robson's account details life as a sheepherder and camp tender in No Wood, Lone Tree, and several other small Wyoming towns. He describes activities in Wyoming ranging from fishing and freighting to haying and cattle round-ups; he describes several ranches, including the ZL Bar Ranch and the OX Bar Ranch, both owned by a syndicate representing the interests of Scottish-American firms; and relates multiple trips to and from the United States and Scotland, including his final return across the Atlantic during World War I. His narrative provides a detailed account of the social network among Scots in Wyoming from 1911 to 1915. Appended to his narrative is a list of all Hawick men Robson knew to have settled or worked in Wyoming as well as five poems about Wyoming ranch life.
Description:
John Robson emigrated to the United States from Hawick, Scotland in 1911. After a voyage to New York and a train trip across the plains he arrived in Moneta, Wyoming. Over the next four years, Robson worked in various capacities in the sheep and ranching industries, travelling through much of Wyoming. In late 1913, he made a trip to Scotland for the winter, returning to Wyoming the following spring. In 1915, Robson decided to fight in World War I; he returned to Scotland. Denied regular service because of poor eyesight, Robson enlisted in the Army Veterinary Corps. and Purchased from Jordan Antiquarian Books on the Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana, 2003.
Subject (Geographic):
Hawick (Scotland), Lonetree (Wyo.), Moneta (Wyo.), No Wood (Wyo.), OX Bar Ranch (Wyo.), Wyoming--Description and travel, and ZL Bar Ranch (Wyo.)
Subject (Name):
Robson, John,--b. 1893
Subject (Topic):
Ranch life--Wyoming, Ranches--Wyoming, Scots--Wyoming, Sheep industry--Wyoming, Sheep ranchers--Wyoming, and World War, 1914-1918--United States
