1920 Alonzo Stepp was appointed the postmaster of Fontenelle, Wyoming. He was an area rancher.
That may not seem remarkable, but Stepp was an African American who was exceptional for his era in numerous ways, one of which was that he was one of few black ranchers in the state at the time, with there remaining few today. The Kentucky born Stepp was college educated, having received a classical education, but immigrated to Wyoming with his wife, whom he'd met in college, to pursue ranching after having worked on a Wyoming ranch one summer while in college. That introduction to ranching came through the invitation of a college friend, who was a white student. Lon Stepp ultimately moved back to Wyoming and into ranching, working on area ranches and purchasing land over the years until he had a full time operating ranch. By 1920, he's already served as an elected district road supervisor. He occupied the postmaster position until December 15, 1941, when he died.
The Stepps would continue to ranch in the area until their ranch was one of the ones that was taken over by the government for Fontenelle Reservoir in 1963. The Stepps fought the condemnation for the reservoir in court but ultimately lost.
Fontenelle Reservoir in 1972.
Perhaps ironically, the dam for the reservoir on their land which they had opposed has proven to be leaky and the reservoir has had to been hurriedly drained twice. Irrigation from the reservoir never really developed due to the difficulties of doing that in a high desert region, and therefore the lake has principally been used for recreation.
Stepp family members remain prominent in the area today.
From here.
Also on this day, Way Down East was released.
You've seen part of it at least. The scene with the protagonist, played by Lillian Gish, on ice flows heading toward a waterfall.
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