Pages of the Past

100 years ago

May 30, 1925

The honor of reporting the first ripe strawberries lies between Mrs. C.A. Zaring and Mr. F.M Hime. The berries began ripening last week and soon the crop will be at its best. 

While working with some machinery the latter part of last week, Richard, the 15-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. O.E. Lungren, had the misfortune to crush his left hand badly. The hand was given prompt attention by Dr. H.T. Harris and it is hoped that it will come out all right. 

In many places of the Midwest, after several days of almost unendurable heat with the thermometer ranging up around a hundred, there came a blast from the north that sent the mercury down below the freezing point. 

75 years ago

May 25, 1950

Harold N. Engle, president of the Basin Junior Chamber of Commerce, was elected vice president of the Wyoming Junior Chamber of Commerce at the latter’s convention in Casper last week. 

An alarm sounded at about 12:30 p.m. Monday summoned members of the Basin Volunteer Fire Department to battle a blaze which broke out among weeds and rubbish in the gulch near the point where Fourth Street crosses the gulch. The flames were extinguished before any notable damage could be caused. 

Little Marie Crowder, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Crowder of Basin, was badly cut and bruised about the face and head when she fell from the car when she was accompanying her parents to Burlington on Mother’s Day to spend the day with her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Aagard. 

Mr. and Mrs. R.W.  Russell and family and Mr. and Mrs. Paul S. Russell and family returned Sunday from Wendover, Utah, where they visited with Mr. and Mrs. K.B. Russell, parents of the two Basin men. 

50 years ago

May 29, 1975

The 69-year-old Big Horn County Bank Building at the corner of south Fourth and West C streets in Basin is coming down. Jim Morris, owner of the structure, has been busy this week removing salvageable materials such as lumber, paneling and wainscoting. The east wall of the building has been sagging outward for several years and last weekend a window arch collapsed and fell to the sidewalk. The sidewalk has since been roped off to keep pedestrians away from the danger area. 

Basin Police Chief Bill Harless this week announced the employment of Jon Dahlberg, who has been the Basin high school principal during the past scholastic season, as a member of the police force. 

25 years ago

May 26, 2000

When longtime educator Laura Irwin died last week, Basin lost one of its most influential citizens. In her 42-year career as a teacher and principal, she had helped shape the knowledge of many individuals and several generations of Basin residents. 

A crop duster spraying an alfalfa field caused a power outage along the Orchard Bench Road, but survived the accident and continued to spray the field. The incident happened Monday morning. The plane was spraying a field belonging to Kevin Lewis when it clipped a power line, pulling several hundred feet from the poles and disrupting power in the area.