James C. Shaw, 91, well-known pioneer cattleman of Converse County since 1887, passed away at his ranch home a few miles south of Orin last Thursday morning. He was the son of John and Elizabeth B. (Norton) Shaw. He was the ninth of twelve children. When he was 14 months old his parents moved to Texas and settled on a farm. James attended school at Elgin, Texas and afterwards taught school for two years. Mr. Shaw came to Wyoming in 1878--as a cowboy, assisting in driving a herd of Texas cattle to the mountain country. He remained in Wyoming, punching cattle for many of the large outfits of those days. In 1881 he became range manager for the Teschemaeher & DeBillier Cattle Co., remaining in that capacity until the company went out of business in 1892. In 1887 he filed on the fertile land that is now the Shaw ranch, on the Platte River south of Orin. When he left the above-named cattle firm he moved on to his Orin holdings and that had been his home ever since. He was married on Dec. 21, 1885, to Miss Elizabeth Dodson, a native of Lincoln County, Mo. Seven children were born to this union, two of whom, Margaret Irene and Dewey B., preceded him in death, as did also Mrs. Shaw. He is survived by three sons and two daughters. They are Clay D. of Orin, Paul N. of Cody, Roscoe N. of Orin, Mrs. Patti Gray of Orin and Mrs. Ruth Hageman of Shawnee. (Information was obtained from his obituary and cemetery records.)

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A biography titled "Reminiscences of Pioneer Life" by James C. Shaw was done by Hallie Croco in 1939 for WPA and is available at the Wyoming State Archives website. To access the article, go to the photo section and click on Collections, then WPA Federal Writer's Project. You can then search for James Shaw.