January 1950

It’s a long story how I came to research January, 1950, but, generally, it came about because I wanted to learn in detail about the big move of the Lower Hanover Canal in the 1940s or 1950s. That resulted in a wild goose chase that had, as an indirect effect, a review of the interesting world of January, 1950 seen through the lens of the Northern Wyoming Daily News.

1950 was full of big news, ranging from disputes with the Soviet Union (Russia), to national labor unrest, to the construction of Boysen dam.

In January 1950, President Truman spoke of the danger of a shooting war against Russia; the talk was obviously in earnest and very unsettling. The Soviets had tried to cut off Berlin from the rest of Europe in 1948, but an American-led airlift had defeated the Russian effort. Again, in early 1950, the Russians stepped up harassing tactics, trying to stop truck traffic in and out of the German city.

The problems in Berlin, however, where Americans and Russians were in direct, daily contact, were only the immediate signs of friction. Much more worrisome was all the talk about the hydrogen bomb. Americans were greatly concerned that the Russians might be building a hydrogen bomb and it was stated that if they got one before the United States, then Russia would have a major advantage over us. As one pundit said: “If the Soviets develop the H-bomb, we’d better not be far behind.” The response by the Truman administration was to release information seeming to indicate that the U. S. A. already had plans underway to build a hydrogen bomb, although it was also announced that President Truman would make a decision about the H-bomb within a couple of weeks. [America soon developed a hydrogen bomb, testing it in November, 1952. About a year later the Russians exploded a similar weapon.]

While the nation worried about how to deal with the Soviet Union, there were disputes at home. The biggest event was a national coal miner’s strike. It was a confused happening, as John L. Lewis at first seemed to support a national strike and then seemed to want to prevent it. Lewis was an interesting figure, one whom I noticed even as a 6-year-old boy. The leader of the United Mine Workers had a strong personality, but I was particularly taken by his appearance. Lewis had ferocious, bushy eyebrows; he seemed to me like a perpetually angry frog. Anyway, there was a lot of discussion whether Lewis was losing control of his union. He had first encouraged a strike and then when pressured, issued an order to stop all strikes. But he was greeted by a wildcat strike by dissident minors who didn’t want to stop striking. And it wasn’t just the mineworkers who were striking, but other large unions, such as telephone workers, who declared a nationwide strike.

Here in the Big Horn Basin, we had our own interesting problems and projects. The biggest project was Boysen Dam, the building of a large dam at the southern entry to Wind River Canyon that would allow more control over the Big Horn River, helping with irrigation and flood control. In the springtime before the dam was built, the river would come crashing north like a mountain stream, only much more violent. It was observed that if that spring runoff could be captured, then the water would be available for use in the summer, when the Big Horn would sometimes descend into puddles. Eventually the Boysen dam project was proposed and forwarded by the United States Bureau of Reclamation. Work had begun in 1947 but the project was not completed until late 1951. The Daily News reported on January 6, 1950 that a 32-ton dynamite charge was to be exploded that day at Boysen.

The changes wrought by the Boysen Dam have become everyday matters, and very few people now think of how differently the Big Horn River was dealt with before the dam was completed.

Next week I hope to finally discuss the moving of the Lower Hanover canal, a major engineering job that resulted in a big change to the contours of our town. My flailing around during the past couple of weeks has not been completely in vain: I now know that the movement was undertaken during 1941.

John Davis was raised in Worland, graduating from W. H. S. in 1961. John began practicing law here in 1973 and is retired. He is the author of several books. John and his wife, Celia, were married in 1967, have two adult sons, and several grandchildren. Their home is known as the Worland House and is on the National Registry of Historic Places.