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Submitted: 2/13/14 • Approved: 4/15/14 • Last Updated: 4/15/14 • R32-G0
1855 - Iowa
1908 - Douglas County, Wyoming
Underneath this stone in eternal rest
Sleeps the wildest one of the wayward west
He was gambler and sport and cowboy too
And he led the pace in an outlaw crew
He was sure on the trigger and stayed to the end But he was never known to quit on a friend
In the relations of death all mankind is alike
But in life there was only one George Pike
George is number 15 on the cemetery walking tour. His sign reads:
One local historian describes George Pike as a "gallant and unusually successful horse thief." Pike came to Antelope, Wyoming - the tent town that would soon become Douglas - in 1885. He thrived first as a gambler and petty conman, and then as a "rancher" - meaning in Pike's case: horse thief. In this capacity, he became widely regarded as the single greatest "success of all of the Old West.
Habitually on trial, he was never convicted. thanks in no small part. perhaps, to the able counsel of his attorney Frederick H. Harvey (#11 on the tour).
But Pike's life turned when, one day, the proverbial tables did: Attorney Harvey, by now dismissed from Pike's service, successfully represented a defendant against charges brought by Pike himself for the alleged theft of a horse belonging to Pike. Harvey argued that the horse in dispute had probably been stolen by Pike in the first place. thus nullifying his claim. The court bought the argument and the case was dismissed. In the face of this embarrassment , Pike thenceforth strove to become a "more or less respected" citizen of Douglas.
The epitaph inscribed on Pike's tombstone, which calls him "the wildest of the wayward west." was composed shortly after Pike's death by an anonymous writer on the staff of The Denver Post Newspaper.
Contributed on 2/13/14 by tomtodd
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Record #: 32