P.O. Box 209 Torrington, Wyoming 82240
The third annual Cowboy State Antique Steam and Gas Association
Reunion was held on July 22nd and 23rd at the Goshen County
Fairgrounds in Torrington, Wyoming. Although planning for the show
began in earnest at the March 1988 meeting, club members met at the
Goshen County University of Wyoming Research Station on July 5th to
bind and shock wheat and barley for the threshing bee at the show.
Members used a 1946 John Deere grain binder pulled by a 1936 John
Deere A, both of which are owned by David and Morris Cronk. On July
16th the bundles were loaded onto wagons and taken to the
fairgrounds. One of the wagons was pulled by a Belgian team, Dick
and Dolly, owned by John Sterner and Steve Jepson.
The weather was hot and sunny both days of the show. The
schedule of events for each day began with a flag raising ceremony
by a local Boy Scout troop at 9:00 a.m. The gas engines were
started and run throughout the day.
Highlights of each day included threshing with a John Deere
threshing machine. In the morning, gas tractors were used to run
the threshing machine. The following are some of the tractors used:
a model 44 Massey-Harris owned by Brad Banta of Henry, Nebraska, a
1936 John Deere A owned by Terry Lofink of Torrington, Wyoming, a
1927 Farmall Regular owned by Morris and David Cronk of Torrington,
Wyoming, and a 1945 John Deere A owned by Scott Hort of Lyman,
Nebraska. In the afternoon the threshing machine was run by steam
power provided by the Cronk brothers’ 1917 Case 60 HP steam
traction engine and Stan Wamhoff’s 3/5 scale 16 HP Russell
steam traction engine. The straw from the threshing was baled with
two International stationary hay presses, both owned by the Cowboy
State Antique Steam and Gas Association. One hay press is
self-powered by an International engine and the other hay press is
powered by a 6 HP John Deere gas engine owned by the Cronk
brothers. The threshed grain was loaded in a Model T truck owned by
Ross Jepson of Yoder, Wyoming. A tractor parade was held each
afternoon, followed by a slow race on Friday. The tractor pull was
held at 6:00 each evening. Some of the visitors and club members
were used as weights on the sled the tractors pulled.
On Saturday, a tug-of-war was held between the 3/5 scale Russell
steam traction engine and the children at the show. Although the
children pulled as hard as they could, the steam traction engine
won. The old time music for the show was provided by the Torrington
Fiddlers’ Association.
Free rides were provided throughout the show by several teams
and wagons. Among these, a stagecoach with a six-pony hitch owned
by H. H. Brooks of Ft. Laramie, Wyoming, a wagon with a four-pony
hitch owned by Bob Davidson of Torrington, Wyoming, a wagon and
team owned by Henri Cattin of Veteran, Wyoming, a wagon and Belgian
team owned by Elwood Rave of Ft. Laramie, Wyoming, and a bundle
wagon and Belgian team owned by Steve Jepson of Yoder, Wyoming, and
John Sterner of Torrington, Wyoming.
Some of the out-of-town exhibits at our show included the 1916
Waterloo Boy owned by Walt Staack of Denver, Colorado, the 1930
Model AA Ford 1?-ton truck owned by Dave Zeeb of Cheyenne, Wyoming,
and the scale model of a Holt 4-cylinder engine owned by George
Scott of Outlook, Montana.
There were several demonstrations at the show that depicted life
as it was in earlier days. Among these were demonstrations given on
treadle sewing machines, gas and hand powered washing machines,
corn shellers, and burr mills. The ladies of the Association made
homemade ice cream for the crowd with a gas powered Maytag washing
machine. Frank Slichter of Casper, Wyoming, demonstrated his model
saw which was run by a ?-scale John Deere gas engine. He cut up
cedar strips and gave them to the crowd to use to freshen their
chest of drawers.
All the members felt that it was a very successful show. Our
exhibits included ninety-three gas engines, two steam traction
engines, sixty-two tractors, five corn shellers, three antique
cars, three antique trucks, one threshing machine, and other
miscellaneous exhibits.
As Frank Slichter, one of our clubs’ charter members, always
says, ‘We may not ever be the largest show, but let’s try
to be known as the friendliest.’ With this in mind, we would
like to invite everyone to stop in at the Fourth Annual Cowboy
State Antique Steam and Gas Association Reunion in 1989 at the
Goshen County Fairgrounds in Torrington, Wyoming. It will be held
on July 21 and 22.
