 Silver Dishes and Golden Memories Gatchell Museum offers Gems of the West The silver bon-bon dishes are empty now, an elegant butter keeper hasn't been used for more than a half century and a matching silver coffee pot and tea service only give testament to the elegance of the family to which they once belonged. In the late 1800's dining was an event of style, even on isolated Wyoming ranches. The family who owned the silver items in the Jim Gatchell Museum was that of Henry W. "Hard Winter" Davis. The dishes were used on Davis' Spectacle Ranch in southern Johnson County and later in Mrs. Anne Davis' Buffalo home. Mrs. Davis was a member of the prestigious Marshall family of Delaware, which included U. S. Supreme Court Justice, John J. Marshall. Anne's marriage to Davis, who gave up medical school for ranching, thrust the petite wife into a whole new life in the West. Though she gave up Eastern surroundings for cattle, boot dust, sagebrush and a sparsely populate community, Anne adapted to her role as ranch wife and hostess for one of Wyoming's best-known ranchers. She retained an atmosphere of culture in her home, even insisting that Spectacle Ranch cowboys remove their boots when entering her home. Because both the Davis' were well educated, the Davis home houses a voluminous library. Often found perusing the collection of books and magazines were friends of the three sons and three daughters of Anne and H. W. One Buffalo woman, now 106, remembers how Mr. Davis would sit in the ranch house and read, his rancher's hat perched firmly on his head, presenting a tantalizing blend of intellectual Easterner and seasoned Western rancher. |
