John Judson Emil Barnum, my mother's step-father and the only grandpa I really knew, was born on the John Landers ranch near Mayoworth, Johnson Co., Wyoming. His parents, Guy Percy Barnum and Franziska Pauline "Fanny" Biesemeyer, settled in the territory before statehood and ran a Post Office at Barnum in Johnson County. Fanny, the daughter of German immigrants, took in laundry and included among her clients local desperados from the Hole-in-the Wall gang. Laundry would be dropped off under the cover of darkness and picked up with the mail the following night. Never a complaint.
John served in the American military police in during World War I.
John was married on 17 February 1933 in Harrison, Nebraska, to Lula May (Simmons) Lynch-Kissick. During World War II, he took his family to Arkansas and eeked out a living along the White River, sometimes gambling, sometimes working for whatever he could scavenge. John and Lula did not remain in Arkansas. In the late 1940's they returned to Wyoming where John and several in the family found construction jobs working on Kortes Dam. John had an immense canvas tent salvaged from war surplus that served as their home and a creche for the grandkids. A smaller tent was pitched to the side for the overflow. During this time, Lula became quite ill. She passed away on 5 June 1950.
John was one of the last true mountain men and was a colorful local character around Johnson Co., Wyoming. To many, he was known as "Powder River Jack", a hunter, a guide, a story-teller and a song writer, and a kind-hearted rascal who enjoyed a good joke, practical or otherwise. Somewhat reclusive in his later years, he lived and worked much of his life in comparative isolation on various local ranches. During hunting seasons, he guided hunters into the Big Horn's in search of large game.
John died from pneumonia on April Fool's Day – a date he would have chosen for himself if he had had any say in the matter.
John served in the American military police in during World War I.
John was married on 17 February 1933 in Harrison, Nebraska, to Lula May (Simmons) Lynch-Kissick. During World War II, he took his family to Arkansas and eeked out a living along the White River, sometimes gambling, sometimes working for whatever he could scavenge. John and Lula did not remain in Arkansas. In the late 1940's they returned to Wyoming where John and several in the family found construction jobs working on Kortes Dam. John had an immense canvas tent salvaged from war surplus that served as their home and a creche for the grandkids. A smaller tent was pitched to the side for the overflow. During this time, Lula became quite ill. She passed away on 5 June 1950.
John was one of the last true mountain men and was a colorful local character around Johnson Co., Wyoming. To many, he was known as "Powder River Jack", a hunter, a guide, a story-teller and a song writer, and a kind-hearted rascal who enjoyed a good joke, practical or otherwise. Somewhat reclusive in his later years, he lived and worked much of his life in comparative isolation on various local ranches. During hunting seasons, he guided hunters into the Big Horn's in search of large game.
John died from pneumonia on April Fool's Day – a date he would have chosen for himself if he had had any say in the matter.
John Judson Emil Barnum, my mother's step-father and the only grandpa I really knew, was born on the John Landers ranch near Mayoworth, Johnson Co., Wyoming. His parents, Guy Percy Barnum and Franziska Pauline "Fanny" Biesemeyer, settled in the territory before statehood and ran a Post Office at Barnum in Johnson County. Fanny, the daughter of German immigrants, took in laundry and included among her clients local desperados from the Hole-in-the Wall gang. Laundry would be dropped off under the cover of darkness and picked up with the mail the following night. Never a complaint.
John served in the American military police in during World War I.
John was married on 17 February 1933 in Harrison, Nebraska, to Lula May (Simmons) Lynch-Kissick. During World War II, he took his family to Arkansas and eeked out a living along the White River, sometimes gambling, sometimes working for whatever he could scavenge. John and Lula did not remain in Arkansas. In the late 1940's they returned to Wyoming where John and several in the family found construction jobs working on Kortes Dam. John had an immense canvas tent salvaged from war surplus that served as their home and a creche for the grandkids. A smaller tent was pitched to the side for the overflow. During this time, Lula became quite ill. She passed away on 5 June 1950.
John was one of the last true mountain men and was a colorful local character around Johnson Co., Wyoming. To many, he was known as "Powder River Jack", a hunter, a guide, a story-teller and a song writer, and a kind-hearted rascal who enjoyed a good joke, practical or otherwise. Somewhat reclusive in his later years, he lived and worked much of his life in comparative isolation on various local ranches. During hunting seasons, he guided hunters into the Big Horn's in search of large game.
John died from pneumonia on April Fool's Day – a date he would have chosen for himself if he had had any say in the matter.
John served in the American military police in during World War I.
John was married on 17 February 1933 in Harrison, Nebraska, to Lula May (Simmons) Lynch-Kissick. During World War II, he took his family to Arkansas and eeked out a living along the White River, sometimes gambling, sometimes working for whatever he could scavenge. John and Lula did not remain in Arkansas. In the late 1940's they returned to Wyoming where John and several in the family found construction jobs working on Kortes Dam. John had an immense canvas tent salvaged from war surplus that served as their home and a creche for the grandkids. A smaller tent was pitched to the side for the overflow. During this time, Lula became quite ill. She passed away on 5 June 1950.
John was one of the last true mountain men and was a colorful local character around Johnson Co., Wyoming. To many, he was known as "Powder River Jack", a hunter, a guide, a story-teller and a song writer, and a kind-hearted rascal who enjoyed a good joke, practical or otherwise. Somewhat reclusive in his later years, he lived and worked much of his life in comparative isolation on various local ranches. During hunting seasons, he guided hunters into the Big Horn's in search of large game.
John died from pneumonia on April Fool's Day – a date he would have chosen for himself if he had had any say in the matter.
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