"Nettie"
A Buffalo Wyoming Businesswoman

For almost a century there have been rumors that the ghosts of unnamed elegant women haunt some of Buffalo's old buildings. A couple in town for an art seminar in the late 1970's were terrified to awaken and see a heavy set woman with glasses standing at the foot of their bed. As she approached the side of the bed occupied by the husband, the wife demanded, "What are you doing?" The apparition looked rather startled, took a few steps in retreat and simply vanished. The terrified couple immediately found other lodging. A ghost from the years when enigmatic women wandered into and out of town, perhaps. While skeptics pooh-pooh the presence of ghosts, some broader-minded historians known attribute such sightings as a possiblle metaphysical return of some socially veiled ladies who left their mark on Buffalo with their physical presence in the early days.

The recreation center of Buffalo today includes the Johnson County YMCA, a free outdoor pool, paved walking path and other facilities. All these are just a short distance from street where the ladies resided. The street originally bore the genteel sounding name--Laurel Avenue. Long after the flamboyancy of Laurel Avenue became Angus Street and the site of more legitimate businesses, an extensive remodel project on one of the historic buildings in what was formerly known as "The District" uncovered some extravagant wall paper of the sort not chosen by upper class matrons of the city.

The dust was still choking travelers along the Bozeman Trail in the late 1870'a when a petite, but determined 36-year-old woman climbed down off a wagon in front of Conrad's store in Buffalo, Wyoming. Her married surname was Stewart, but her life as a rural farm wife and mother in Iowa ended for the Norwegian-born Nettie when her husband was accidentally killed. In Iowa the young widow found it so difficult to make a living for her two sons that she turned the farm and her two sons over to a couple who agreed to rear them. Nettie headed for a big city and a completely different profession.

No one knows why Nettie chose Buffalo as a stop on her junket to the untamed west, but it was most likely because of the existence of Fort McKinney. The fort's presence gave rise to an influx of entrepeneurs of all sorts to the small frontier settlement--from honest merchants to some very shady and mysterious characters. Most were men with a talent for merchandising who knew that the military personnel at McKinney received regular paychecks. Nettie and those who followed in her footsteps recognized that young soldiers needed recreation and Nettie Wright was very aware that one of those "after hours" activities was something she could easily provide. One well-known and respected matron whose husband was a well-respected businessman in early day Buffalo would later relate, "although the military post which really built up the town was fully garrisoned . . . they were very well-behaved. Nettie Wright was well behaved, too and lost no time in settling in to become one of the town's most interesting characters.

Early in 1881, in Johnson County's first recorded land transaction, Nettie, who now used Wright as her last name, bought half interest in a one-story log dwelling on Main Street for $350. It included a wing on the west side and a log kitchen attached on the south side. Known as McLeod's Saloon, it soon became known as Nettie Wright's place when within two years Nettie bought the other half of the complex. She also bought a two-story log home on Laurel Avenue, thus keeping her personal life separate from her business. She looked out for herself spending a great deal of money on fine clothing including black and red cashmere suits. It wasn't easy being a business woman of any sort on the frontier, especially if you were illiterate.

Nettie soon found herself in trouble with the law. She was indicted for grand larceny for allegedly stealing one of the saloon patron's gold ring as well as other items. But before you could blink an eye, a couple of more prominent gentlemen from town had posted her bond. Not long after that, she was indicted as an accessory to the crime when the barkeeper, McCleod was killed in a brawl in her presence. The charges wouldn't stick and the little lady from Laurel Avenue was subsequently freed.

After she bought out McLeod's share of the saloon, Nettie became even busier. She kept her saloon well stocked and is said to have had a discerning eye and a careful regard for both military and civilian customers. She bought whiskey at $3.00 a gallon, blackberry wine at $2.50 a gallon and imported champagne at $18.00 per dozen.

Nettie soon came to realize the increasing business competition in saloons, dance halls and other forms of entertainment and her enterprising nature rallied with a most unusual approach. In her bar she added what is said to have been Wyoming's first roller skating rink. This unique sideline is what put Nettie into a footnote of Wyoming history. She ordered 45 pair of good roller skates from Kansas City. They cost $1 per pair and arrived in February of 1885. The expansion project was financed by a mortgage on her property, which she borrowed from some business friends in town, paying 3% interest on the money. She even had her house painted and hired a cleaning lady.

Nettie soon died from consumption and when the attempts to find her children failed her $2,500 estate was sold to pay debts. Her personal physician closed out her estate. All that remained were Nettie's roller skates, which the good doctor reported to the court, "No one will buy them at any price." Today all that remains of Nettie are courthouse records and perhaps an occasional eerie appearance of an elegant 5-foot, one-inch Norwegian lady from the beyond trying to retrieve her skates.