Carbon County WY Archives Biographies.....Jebens, Carlie November 23, 1888 - July 1, 1976 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wy/wyfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deidre Badker berniebadker@iowatelecom.net January 28, 2014, 12:47 pm Source: Snake River Profile Author: Carlie Ferdinand Jebens Carlie wrote a biography which was published in the Snake River Profile before his death. He wrote about his parents, Ferdinand and Margarite (Ketelsen) Jebens, himself, his family: In the year of 1885, all the way across the continent, in the country of Schleiswig, Germany, a young couple had been hearing of the opportunities that could be found in far away United States of America. After much thought, Ferdinand Jebons and his wife, Margarita, decided to take the plunge and leave their native home for a taste of adventure. Their cookie jar was not running over with pennies, so they decided that Ferdinand should go alone first and make a place for Margarite and their two babies, Andrew, three years, and Agnes, six months. So one day, Ferdinand took a deep breath, hitched up his pants and with mixed emotions stepped on the ship that was to sever his home ties. That was in 1885. After reaching the States, his first job was in Huron, South Dakota, as section hand on the railroad. He worked there until he had the money to get his family over, then gave up the railroad for a farm where he thought to raise his family. (Ship records show his wife and 2 children emigrating November 1885). One night in 1888, they had a visitor who left a bundle containing a little boy, a squalling bundle of humanity, they named him Carlie. Things weren't going too well. They worked hard but money was as scarce as hen's teeth. In fact, there wasn't any. They were living through the worst depression to ever hit the US. There wasn't any work for the simple reason that there was no money to pay with. To top it all off, South Dakota underwent a drought that topped all droughts and as a result, farms were vacated. Families left their homes, taking only the very necessary possessions they could not do without. Ferdinand and Margarita gathered up their three children in a covered wagon in 1895 and resolutely turned their eyes and footsteps westward. With them on this trek was Peter Jons (b 1868 Germany, d 1947 Colorado), the father of Ralph, Lee, Orville, Roy and Clayton Jons of Snake River. (Peter Jons first wife was Sophia Jebens, Carlie's niece.) Margarite had one possession she thought she could not do without - a cast iron cook stove. The family had to haul it as she didn't know how to cook over an open fire. When they stopped for a meal during their travels west through Dakota, the men had to lift the stove to the ground and reload it when they were finished. They finally got to Rawlins and still no work, but they heard of a canal that was being built further south. Sixty miles south, in fact and it proved to be the west side canal from Dixon to Dry Gulch. Ferdinand went to work and received three dollars a day for himself and his team. No board either, but it was a job. They rented a house in Baggs from Ledford. Ferdinand kept his eyes and his mind busy as he trudged behind that team and scraper. When the job was finished, he filed on a homestead on the piece of land that is now the Four Mile Ranch (located 4 miles outside of Baggs). The children walked the first year to Baggs to school. There were seventy-five pupils and one teacher. Carlie says they changed teachers a lot. The next year, Carlie had a burro to ride and that was better than walking, but just barely. His third year earned him a pony and that was fine, but about that time he had grown big enough to work so his schooling was confined to a few weeks in the winter. In 1895, when the Jebens family arrived in Rawlins, they were broke and their horses poor to the extent of being weak, except for one saddle horse that they had managed, some way, to keep in pretty good shape. It was in May and the feed was short, if any at all. They sold the good saddle horse for six dollars to buy flour, baking powder and lard to start their journey to Baggs. When they got to the River, Ferdinand made enough money on the West Side Canal to file on the Four Mile Homestead and to buy lumber from the saw mill to build their cabin. The cabin had a dirt roof, as did most of the homestead cabins at that time. I am sure the people of those days, with their board walls covered with muslin, were just as happy and maybe happier, than they are today with their fine big houses. The West Side Canal, originally built to Dry Gulch for placer mining, failed and the ditch was turned over to the homesteaders for irrigation. The farmers sure took advantage of that windfall and soon the sagebrush bowed out and hay meadows and gardens took over. While Ferdinand hauled freight to and from Rawlins, Margarite supplemented his income by doing washing and house cleaning for the townspeople of Baggs. She walked the four miles from home to town and worked all day, glad to get it. At that time there were no fences between Four Mile and Baggs, and a good many other places too. Margarite finally acquired a two wheel cart pulled by a little mare so that she didn't have to walk any more. I doubt very much that there is anyone today, with a brand new Cadillac, that is as happy with it as she was with her cart. The Jebens' family's one big project was freighting for the various business places on the River and when Carlie was ten or eleven, he drove a four horse team the 132 miles to Rawlins and back as often as they had loads. Sometimes in the spring, there were loads of wool to go out. At fourteen years of age, Carlie was given a six or eight jerk line or spring team. To manipulate this team, he had a saddle on the left wheeler, which is the left horse on the team next to the wagon. Carlie rode this horse and he carried with him, tied to the saddle, a five gallon can which he used to stand on to harness his team. He also left the stirrup on the left side long so he could mount the horse. Driving the jerk line was an accomplishment for a grown man, an art that is almost extinct now. Carlie could probably handle a team in that manner yet. With a jerk line, the entire team is guided by one rein. The two lead horses have a stick fastened to their bits with one horse having the line fastened to his bit so that he controls his mate by pushing or pulling on the stick. They are both then in control of the rest of the team. And in control of the entire line we have one small boy, with his one long stirrup, a can tied to the back of his saddle, one rein in hand, and with a "Hup, there, you git goin'," is off for Rawlins, sixty-six long lonely miles away. One day, when the Powder Springs Gang was in town, Carlie rode his burro to town. As he got in front of the old Log Cabin Saloon, the burro, being a play boy at heart, stopped and Carlie could not persuade him to move. Maybe the excitement of the laughter coming from the saloon and the gathering of the outlaws caused young Carlie to not try very hard. At any rate, the burro balked. A bunch of Butch Cassidy's men came out and started shooting close to the boy and the burro. Finally, after some of his long hair was singed some, he jogged on down the street, to the merriment of the gang. Sometimes, after a robbery or a holdup, they rode into Baggs or Dixon to spend their loot and scare some of the natives half to death. However, I have never heard of them killing anyone of the River. Tom Vernon used to fiddle for them to dance, usually in the building that is now the home of Pearl Gaddis. Butch did not build that house. He never lit in Baggs long enough to build a house. This wild bunch had several names but Snake River people called them the Powder Springs Gang because they had a hideout there. One time after a robbery or train holdup, the Carbon County Sheriff's posse was on their trail. The bunch stopped in Baggs and then the posse found out they were in Baggs, they camped north until they were sure that the gang had left, then they came in after them. They had no stomach for the hot lead of the Powder Springs Gang. It was not all play and burro riding for Carlie. Small as he was, he grew up learning to work. One of the hardest jobs he can remember is walking behind an eight foot tooth harrow in the plowed ground, driving a team. The ground had to be gone over four times before it was ready to sow the grain. Well, he thought to heck with the farming and at eleven years of age, he started breaking broncos. The town of Baggs got growing pains. It consisted of a one room log shack grocery store owned by Leadford, a tent saloon run by Jack Ryan, a few one room log cabins, a post office which was north of the river on the old Bob Temple ranch and a boarding house owned by Mrs. Magor which now belongs to Pearl Gaddis. By 1908, Baggs was almost a city, supporting two hotels, four grocery stores that carried everything from peas to pots, a ladies hat shop, a barber shop, a black smith shop and a new school building, not to mention four saloons and the town was wide open. Then came civilization, so to speak, incorporating the town and whacking off two saloons. The population was questionable, but there was a family living on almost every 160 acres and making a living off of it too. Around 1913, Carlie took the contract to dig the first water main in Baggs. Then they really got uptown and bought a light plant. They also got a telephone system up and down the River. Dr. Condit came in from somewhere and opened a drug store in Baggs. He also built the first telephone lines from Baggs to Wamsutter. So Baggs came out of isolation and could communicate with the outside world. All this time, Carlie was growing up. At seventeen years of age, he was the youngest man on the Reversed Four Cattle Company's pay roll and was also the wagon boss. The crew at that time, consisted of Clem Fryer, Crawford Woods, Bill Banks, Barret Morgan, Ed Harrison, The Cook, George Parson and Doc Chivington, the big boss. That spring, they trailed in four thousand two-year-old steers from Wamsutter. Next, Carlie rode with Snake River Wagon, which was a pool in which each rancher with enough cattle sent a man to ride with the expense of the wagon prorated among those ranchers. Riding for the pool at this time was Bill Bruster, George Salisbury, Jent Maddison, Dunk (Duncan) Blair, Aldie Sheehan, Andy Miller, Walter Morgan, Billy Corbett, Kirk Calvert (married to Carlie's sister Agnes), Jesse Adams, Laurence Ayer and the cook, Pa Dawson. In 1906, Carlie rode with the Two Bar Outfit on Bear River for Ora Haley. They soon sent him to Lay, Colorado to manage their horses. They had several bunches of mares and he had to keep the colts branded and card for. He had a partner for awhile but he got sick, so Carlie was alone. Besides the Haley brand, each colt had a 6 burned on its hide so they could tell his age at a glance. I guess that would be easier than looking at his teeth. (Remember the year is 1906) That fall, he took his money and went to Fremont, Nebraska to go to business school. But alas! As has always been the case, it takes longer to earn money than it does to spend it. His ran out before the school term did so he came home. His brother, Andrew, ran one of the saloons in Baggs, so while his brother went to Vernal, Utah courting, Carlie ran the saloon for him. Besides the liquid refreshments of the day, Carlie opened up a gambling den complete with Black Jack tables, Roulette Wheel and a Stud Pack. But after a time, Andrew came back with a bride so Carlie kissed the lively life of bartender/gambler goodbye and took the job of cowboy for Mr. Gardener, who had bought Mr. Jebens' cattle and leased his ranch. He stayed with that until August, then took a partner, Reed Meyer, and a greasy sack, which is what they called the box that held their food and pans. Reed had grown into a big boy and was too fat for most horses to carry very far. They went out gathering horses for themselves. Reed only helped to corral, but at that, they got two car loads of horses and shipped them to Chapman, Kansas. Carlie went again to Fremont for the first term of school. This boy was determined to get an education or maybe it was because he married Anna Millican (Milliken) and she persuaded him to finish his business course. At any rate, he finished the course on January 18, took a train to Idaho, gathered up his wife, who was teaching there, and came back to Baggs, where they bought a general store from his brother, Andrew. It took him five and a half years to go broke in that venture. However, he paid off the purchase price of $13,559.20 and kept his credit good. Well, cowboys shouldn't try to run stores. He went out and homesteaded 160 acres adjoining his dad's ranch on Four Mile, then bought his dad's 160, built a cabin and moved to Four Mile. Carlie and Anna had by this time acquired a family of three little girls, Margaret, Mildred, and Marion. After moving to Four Mile, the stork made one more visit with two more little girls, twins, Fay and Fern. Carlie built two more rooms on his cabin and bought a Model T. Ford. Everything seemed to be going his way until the twins were fifteen months old. The Grim Reaper reached out, taking his Anna, leaving him alone with five little girls to raise. Before moving to the homestead on Four Mile, Carlie was elected to the board of directors and served as security for the lower telephone company. They got a line all the way to Battle Creek and through Fortification to Craig. So with Dr. Condit's line to Wamsutter, and the new Light Plant, Baggs was a good little town. Carlie was put on the Council board. Against his advice, Bob Meldrum was hired as Marshal. He knew Bob for what he was and told the rest of the board that some one would be killed. Sure enough, Jim Parson killed Bob Temple. Jim was hauling gravel for Bob Meldrum and on his orders, Jim killed Temple. The next thing he did, for no apparent reason, was kill easy going, fun loving Chick Bowen in front of the Inn Hotel. After Anna passed away, Carlie put his daughters in a Catholic Convent in Denver, from September to May, then he hired a housekeeper and brought them to the ranch through the summer months. When they were older, he rented a house in Baggs and kept them so they could go to school there. Then he got on the school board with W.T. Penland, Matt Weber, Charles Benson, George Evans, and Pete Jons for the high school. Grade school board members were W.T. Penland, President; Charles Benson, Treasurer; and Carlie Jebens, secretary. In 1930, Carlie dug the basement for the gym, hauled material for it from Wamsutter on an eight foot bed Model T. Ford Truck, including the iron roof beam. It looks from here like he was pretty essential to the school in Baggs. He got the mail contract from Wamsutter to Baggs, and he had to make the round trip in a day. During the winter, he started at both ends and met in the middle, to make the trip in the allotted time. In 1932, they had a bad winter, and he used three trucks and sixteen head of horses, then it took the day and part of the night. For six weeks, his stage was the only thing that could get through, and it did get through. He had three sheep wagons along the way to provide food, rest and fresh horses. In 1930, he ran the first school bus, with his Model T pickup, from Four Mile to Baggs. That pickup was a pretty handy gadget to have. In 1932, he and Harold Spragg were with the Cow Creek Company, again they made use of the trucks by building stock crates on the back of them and hauled the lambs from the forest to market. That business boomed for Carlie, and during the fall and spring, he worked night and day, as did his drivers, Roy and Johnny Adams, Morris Wilson, Skinny Mathewes, Sub Leggett, Harry Jessmer, Devilo Solace and more he didn't remember. Some of the teamsters on his stage were Harry Cook, Bill Adams, and Slats Humphrey. He praised them all, saying thoughtfully, "They were faithful and willing, all of them." During the summer months, he took his daughters to Lander to visit his sister, Agnes (Mrs. Kirk, Jr.) Calvert. He left the three oldest with her, and he with the twins, going home, took a short cut through Buffalo Pass to Wamsutter, a mere ninety miles of uninhabited desert. Some trip for a man and two little girls, in a wagon. Among other things Carlie did to help settle Snake River, was to install the first gasoline pump, which beat tin cans and funnels all to thunder, that was way back there in 1911. During the terrible depression of 1914-15, he helped the ranches on Snake River for their Federal Land Loans, which meant the difference between folding and carrying on with their operations. He also made the first twenty Abstracts for the land bank, as up to then there was none on any of the land. It was a big job, taking lots of time, paper work, trips to Rawlins and affidavits from Washington, D.C. but, he said, it was all well worth it, as it enabled the ranchers to keep their land. In 1925, he took for himself a wife, Edna Harrison, daughter of George Gideon. They added a boy to his family of girls and they named him Carlie George. Carlie then went into the sheep business and stayed for two years, then went to work for Cow Creek. They worked 40,000 sheep on Powder Rim, north of Powder Flats that fall. His next move was to Wamsutter, where they lived for four years and he had the stage contract again. The route was changed to leave Rawlins in place of Wamsutter, which caused a divorce because Edna would not move to Rawlins. So he moved to Rawlins alone, but he soon remedied that by marrying Helen Thomas from Walla Walla, Washington, who was teaching in Baggs. To that union, two children were born, a boy, Denny, and a girl, Catherine. Carlie lost the mail route in 1939 and moved back to the Four Mile Ranch, where they acquired a small bunch of cows, a few milk cows and raised bum lambs, bought more sheep and got back into the sheep business. Carlie and Helen continued to grow, getting more land, more cattle and sheep until their cow herd reached its peak at three hundred and the sheep - four thousand. They bought the Baggs Livestock, and with long hours and hard work they rode out the depression, living at the headquarters. Tragedy entered their lives when their fifteen year old son, Denny, drowned in treacherous old Snake River. That was a blow that was hard to take. They sold out in 1958 to TV's Jack Benny, Mandy Spiegel of Spiegel catalogue, Julie Stein, of RCA, Paul Manhiam, who is with Leham Brothers Wall Street Brokerage of New York, and they still own the ranch (when this article was written, probably about 1960). In 1959, Carlie and Helen bought a winter home in Tempe, Arizona, where they spend six months out of each year, but will always be residents of Wyoming. They keep and maintain a summer home near Baggs. Their children are scattered far and near. Margaret is Mrs. Barney Harris of Rawlins. They have one child. Mildred is Mrs. Caroll of Sinclair and they have one daughter. Marion Hansen lives in Scottsdale, Arizona and she has one daughter. Fern is living in Phoenix and works for Holiday Mana. Fay Macker lives in Denver and has two children. Carlie George lived in San Antonio and has three children. Catherine, or Kay as she is called, lives in Baggs and is Mrs. Harry Hunt. Carlie has had a busy and colorful life on this Snake River and was surely instrumental in settling the area. He can sure tell anyone about almost every phase of the growing up of this country because he grew up with it. He graduated from candle light to electric lights, from horse and buggy to Jeeps and what have you, and he can tell you that history was not made in a day. Additional Comments: Sincere thanks to the family for sharing this article. Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/wy/carbon/photos/bios/jebens63gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wy/carbon/bios/jebens63gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wyfiles/ File size: 20.6 Kb