TEN SLEEP TOWN & CEMETERY

Washakie County, Wyoming

N 44 02.251      W 107 27.160

The little town of Ten Sleep is a wonderful place.  A ranch community with occasional attempts at attracting tourism, it remains very small.  People of means, and some with no means, have recently found the place, however, and some impressionable homes are showing up in various places.

You can read "How Ten Sleep Got Its Name" on a wooden sign next to the Ten Sleep Bar.  It's a nice little tale about how it took the Indians or somebody "ten sleeps" to cross the mountains from somewhere to this spot, and so on.  Come around and read the actual story yourself.  Who knows, it might even be true.

There is some good food available, and close by you'll find great fishing and hunting; skiing and snowmobiling in the winter; and a not-yet-discovered private golf course, where you are expected to carry a fly rod in your bag as part of your club selection.  The scenery of the Big Horn Mountains and surrounding area is spectacular.  Try camping if you like.

Ten Sleep is a perfect example of the old addage:  "There isn't much to do in a small town, but what you hear makes up for it."  If you need information, there are local people who know what you want to know.

Ten Sleep has some very devout ranch families and some rowdy cowboys as well.  A highway patrolman once told me that mace was effective on everyone he knew of, with the exception of a drinking cowboy on the fourth of July in Ten Sleep.  "Spray one of those boys with mace, and they just get mad," he said.

This is definitely a place you need to visit!  Bring your camera, but don't expect to get the film developed here.

The cemetery is located on the West edge of the town of Ten Sleep, Washakie County.  It is well kept and well organized.  As of 1 Jan 2000, the cemetery district records are kept by Anella Snyder, in town, and by Fred Drake, of Ten Sleep.  I obtained from the cemetery district a computerized list of graves with locations and some death dates.  The list also contained a few references after names, such as the owner of the plot.  The word “owner” has been removed by me.  Other references have not.

I also obtained an older record of cemetery and tombstone information dating back to 1953.  It’s origin is not certain, but some local persons have told me it is from a collection of records made by Roy Forbes of Lovell, Wyoming.  (It states that at that time there were 106 unknown graves in the cemetery).  I combined both records into one database, recording them just as they were given to me.  I found discrepancies in the combination of the two records, and ended up adding 86 names to the Ten Sleep Cemetery District List.  I cannot guarantee the accuracy of either record, but they are both very well done.

A paper copy, as well as a microfilm of the Vital Records Index of the Worland Grit Newspaper and the Northern Wyoming Daily News is available.  This index represents 10 years of hand typing labor by Allena Austin of Worland.  It is most helpful in finding birth, death, marriage, and obituary information.  In a few cases, I took the time to look up a death and transfer the information into my combined lists. Assistance for lookups can be arranged by contacting:

wcounty@trib.com