On this #TBT, we focus in on a little-known historic connection between the legendary Trabing Brothers freighting empire and Sheridan County.

Augustus and Charles Trabing arrived in Laramie in the summer of 1868 as experienced merchants, ranchers, and freighters.  Born in Germany, they had arrived in the US in 1853 when “Gus” was eleven and Charles eight.

The adventures and accomplishments of the Trabing Brothers have been thoroughly documented by Nancy Trabing Mickelson, Augustus’ granddaughter. By 1869 they had a string of stores in Buffalo, Rawlins, Medicine Bow, Crazy Woman, and Laramie; contracts for supplying the railroad with wood; and even a theater in Laramie.  At one time they had as many as 100 “freighters” (men who drove the horse- or mule-drawn wagons) in their employ.

Some observant Sheridan County residents, however, recently wondered how Trabing Creek, a small tributary of Little Goose Creek near The Brinton Museum, got its name. The answer lies in a friendship between Augustus Trabing and a renowned historical figure from Big Horn, O. P. Hanna.

Oliver Perry Hanna (1851-1934) was a scout, trapper, hunter, and the first settler in Sheridan County. He would sometimes accept work from the Union Pacific and other businesses to track down robbers. In one instance, after the Trabing store at Crazy Woman Creek was robbed, Hanna claims to have come across a gang of seven men, including the notorious outlaws Frank James and Big Nose George.

“They were sorting over the goods stolen from the Trabing store,” he writes. “When they saw me, they jerked a blanket over them. Had they gone through my pockets they would have found the pictures of Frank James and Big Nose George, also a letter from Detective Leach giving me instructions as to what to do when I found their camp.”

Hanna played it cool and convinced them he was simply a hunter. He rode to Fort McKinney that night to report what he had seen, and a posse of deputies was dispatched. However, they arrived after the camp had been deserted. Hanna’s is just one of many references to Frank James hiding out near Big Horn from diaries and letters of residents at the time.

According to Mickelson, Trabing and Hanna collaborated for a short time on a campaign to promote the Powder River Basin as an untapped location for homesteading. Few people took them up on their advice to relocate to the “fertile valleys of the northern territory,” and some accused them of exaggerating the area’s potential.

In 1882, Trabing fromed the Trabing Creek Ditch Co. and made a desert land claim at the mouth of Trabing Creek near Little Goose Canyon, where The Brinton is now. He was unable to prove the claim, as he had responsibilities elsewhere. In the following decades, the Trabing Brothers built their residences and consolidated their business empire in Laramie.

Sources:

“An Old Timer’s Story of the Old Wild West” by O. P. Hanna

“A Territorial Empire: The Trabings and their Freight” by Nancy Trabing Mickelson

“Water in Wyoming: A History of Irrigation from 1868–1979” by Jonathon C. Horn and Michael J. Prouty

Special thanks to Nancy Trabing Mickelson.