1896 Ltr: New York- Wyoming, Cowboys, ranching, lawless men, brother-in-law shot

Description

Letter with cover from "Eliza" in Deposit, New York to "Belle" Mrs. Frank Deuel in Lusk, Wyoming [Postmark and stamp damaged] Although, we have an iconic perspective on the "cowboy" today "Eliza" in New York had real concerns in 1896. She talks of "lawless men" in Wyoming and a "reckless state of affairs". The recipient's sister-in-law's husband has been shot and she tells Belle "don't let him [husband] get shot". Although "Belle" has spoken well of "cowboys" the author feels cowboys "take the law into their own hands" and are "terrible men, lawless, dissolute". She does admit "good families live in low houses"-adobe mudbrick. Intimating height of houses shows good breeding. The recipient is Teibell L. Deuel (1857-?) Great depiction of an Easterner's idea of a "cowboy" in late Victorian America.