Nora & Walter Davis
Nora Bessie O’Neal was born at Bradshaw, Polk County, Nebraska, November 25, 1888 to Albert & Ettie O’Neal, one of four children (Nora, Elsie, Floyd, and Roy). While still very young she moved with her parents to Colorado and later to Baynard, Nebraska in 1894 where she grew to young womanhood. She spent two years at Doane College at Crete, Nebraska, as an efficient clerk in a furnishing store. On December 3, 1912 she was married to Walter Davis of Moorcroft, Wyoming, at which place she lived until last fall when she moved to Upton. She died June 8, 1920 at the age of 36, leaving to mourn her death her husband Walter and three small children, Marjorie, aged 6, Francis, aged 4 and Rodney, aged 2 years.
Walter Lorenzo Davis was born in 1880 in Poland, Nebraska. He died in June 1960 in Florida and is buried in Georgia. He arrived in Crook County sometime between 1900 and 1910, during his mid-twenties. His wife, Nora, died after only 8 years of marriage and he raised his three small children in the Moorcroft area. He died in 1960 at the age of 80 in Dover, Florida and is buried in Columbus, Georgia.
Few Clothes and Plenty Horse by Robert Macy –
Nora Bessie O’Neal was born at Bradshaw, Polk County, Nebraska, November 25, 1888 to Albert & Ettie O’Neal, one of four children (Nora, Elsie, Floyd, and Roy). While still very young she moved with her parents to Colorado and later to Baynard, Nebraska in 1894 where she grew to young womanhood. She spent two years at Doane College at Crete, Nebraska, as an efficient clerk in a furnishing store. On December 3, 1912 she was married to Walter Davis of Moorcroft, Wyoming, at which place she lived until last fall when she moved to Upton. She died June 8, 1920 at the age of 36, leaving to mourn her death her husband Walter and three small children, Marjorie, aged 6, Francis, aged 4 and Rodney, aged 2 years.
Walter Lorenzo Davis was born in 1880 in Poland, Nebraska. He died in June 1960 in Florida and is buried in Georgia. He arrived in Crook County sometime between 1900 and 1910, during his mid-twenties. His wife, Nora, died after only 8 years of marriage and he raised his three small children in the Moorcroft area. He died in 1960 at the age of 80 in Dover, Florida and is buried in Columbus, Georgia.
Few Clothes and Plenty Horse by Robert Macy –
- “A man just a bit taller than the average Walt Davis stood upright, and had the hint of a twinkle in his eyes. My father enjoyed Walt – they were about the same age – they were neighbors and friends. Walt probably came to Moorcroft about 1908 or 09. He was the father of two daughters and a son. The mother passed away in 1920, and Walt raised these youngsters as both father and mother. The stories he told are an index to his gentleness, his wit, and the variety of his usefulness in the world of work.”
- Walt liked kids – “On the ranch as his children and the neighbor kids were growing up, Walt would organize them into a crew to weed the garden or pick potato bugs. He would work with them – they would all work hard. Then in the afternoon he would take them to the rodeo or the circus – cotton candy and all.”
- “During the late twenties Walt Davis helped haul and stack alfalfa hay at our ranch. This was a slow operation. We used a team and a hay rack – the hay cocks were pitched onto the hay rack with forks. To save some time we tried to get as much hay on the rack as possible. The old horse-drawn wagons had large wooden and iron hubs that turned somewhat loosely over a bulky metal axle. Uneven turf on a meadow would make the wheels slip back and forth on the axles producing an irregular jarring sound. When the wagon was heavily loaded these sounds were increased. Walt told the story of an old German farmer who used to say, “Ve’ll put on a heavy load und make der vagon chuckle.” So as we put up the hay we would remind each other, “Let’s put on a big load and make the wagon chuckle.”
- “About the time of the hard winter of 1911 and 12, Walt Davis was a deputy sheriff at Moorcroft – he told stories of tight situations, of desperate men and “painted” ladies. During the time I was in high school it was not uncommon to hear shots in the saloons at night – some feuds were settled in a rather final manner. One time years later I was working and visiting with Mr. Davis…My comment, more as small talk than purposeful expression was, “Walt, there don’t seem to be as many murders around Moorcroft as there used to be.” Walt’s terse reply was, “Well, there are just as many people need killin.”
- “When Walt Davis was a youth living with his parents in Southern Nebraska, the family moved by covered wagon to settle in Georgia. I can recall that he spoke of buying water at the cost of fifty cents per barrel as they traveled through the Salina, Kansas area. The water was used for household purposes and for the horses. Water free from salt was scarce in the vicinity. The newness of the adventure must have been an exciting experience because Walt said he had “never had so much fun” in all his life. Years later as a grown man, he helped trail ten thousand head of four-year old wethers out of the Oregon rangelands to feedyards near Lincoln, Nebraska. Walt was the cook on this rather unusual trail drive. He spoke of baking fresh biscuits every day, and frequently fried and served young sage chickens which he had hunted as the herd grazed slowly through the high ranges in a southeasterly direction. A characteristic of trail herds was that animals owned by ranchmen and homesteaders along the way were attracted to the big drives. Walt said that by the time they reached Lincoln in Eastern Nebraska, they had in their herd a variety of sheep – a good many ewes and lambs. With the covered wagon trip to Georgia and the trail drive with the wether, Walt had crossed the United States diagonally from northwest to southeast – an achievement few have experienced.”