Ayers Natural  Bridge Park consists of 150 acres of land that was a part of the Ayres (pronounced airs) Ranch.  They donated it for usage of events: weddings, reunions, photography shoots, and picnics – it is free of charge to use but you are expected to clean up after yourself.  Rafting, hiking, mountain biking are all popular activities there.

No dogs are allowed, but for a reasonable fee The Station at Natural Bridge,  named so because it used to be a filling station, https://www.thestationboarding.com/, will board your animal while you are there.

The park is believed to be the first tourist attraction in the country.  Located between Glenrock and Douglas, just off I-15,  Exit 151. It is only one of three natural  stone bridges with water (the LaPreleCreek – in this case) running under it.  It is described as nature’s work of art.

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Miners and Stockmen’s Steakhouse & Spirits, Valentine’s Day & the Pony Express

In 1884 the town of Hartville was born, named after Major (Brevet Lt. Col). Verling K. Hart when Wyoming was still a territory.  Hartville, Wyoming, population 62, incorporated in 1911, was a thriving area during the copper and iron mining days.

The ore from Hartville to Badger Wyoming used 10 ore wagons and sixty horses.  By 1900, the railroads arrived.

Miners and Stockmen’s Steakhouse and Spirits is the oldest business in Wyoming and certainly the oldest in Hartville, Wyoming, population 62.  It is now a quiet community.  Except at the Steakhouse.  It is the only business left and is still open Thursday through Sunday 5:00 – 10:00 p.m.  Reservations aren’t mandatory but highly recommended. 

 They are known for serving top-grade steaks, along with 35 kinds of whiskey.  Oh – and you might want to order your dessert early because it is in such high demand you might miss out.  You won’t leave hungry.  Only with a desire to come back as soon as possible.

 It has served thousands of men- immigrants from all over the world -scratching a living out of the earth, as well as cattle rustlers.  There used to be maybe a dozen bars serving nearly 800 people. It was a rough and rowdy place, as most mining towns were in that era.  The last shootout on Main Street was in 1912.

The town housed several bordellos, dance halls, and gambling facilities.  It also boasted an opera house with live vaudeville productions, two newspapers, stables, cafes, bakeries, and several mercantiles.

They managed to build a school that doubled as a church on Sunday.  As you can see in my photo there are bars on the small block building behind the restaurant.  The jails held many, many unruly drunks – until Prohibition came to town. (It was either going to jail or church on Sunday!) Then the restaurant (not the current building) became just a restaurant with a hidden stairway to the basement where drinks were still served to a few. After Prohibition, the stairwell was no longer needed, and it became a restaurant and bar again.

When the mines closed in 1980 the town was in danger of losing its post office.  Some of the creative people in town, headed up by Daniel Offe, decided on a commemorative stamp in hopes of securing the future of their mail service.  They chose one for Valentine’s Day.  The stamp is a little different each year and is collected by people worldwide.

Pony Express comes into play in this event.  They ride into Hartville with all the valentines they’ve collected from neighboring areas of Guernsey and Platte County.  The children especially love this event as they get to pet the horses and experience history in the making.   It doesn’t hurt any that Offe’s 90-year-old mother makes cinnamon rolls for the occasion.  Along with coffee and visiting it’s an event to remember.

My maiden name is Hart, so reading about the history and the steakhouse piqued my interest considerably.  We made dinner reservations and headed across the state to sample the outstanding food and spent the previous night in Guernsey, about five miles from Hartville.  The weather had gotten so bad that we decided to head for home.  A very disappointing development.   I want to go back someday and sample that wonderful food.  It’s definitely on my bucket list.

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My father-in-law was a pretty good chef and he taught my mother-in-law, Pauline, to cook after they married.   In fact, he had his own restaurant for a while. It was right across the street from Cudahy’s Meat packing plant located at 2300 N. Broadway Street in Wichita, Kansas – an awesome place for it.  Cudahy’s is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  It was the largest packing plant in the country at the time with over 13,000 employees.  That might have meant a lot of lunches for Noah to fix!!  

My husband pointed out the cafe to me many years ago before the buildings along there were torn down.  It was a simple little frame structure.  I wish I had taken a photo of it.

Noah Ahijah Johnston had a system figured out so he could feed people rapidly – bacon and eggs, biscuits or hotcakes for breakfast – hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries, or chili for lunch.  He had fast food before fast food was cool!  (As I am writing this his firstborn is in our kitchen whipping up a batch of chili.)

Hamburgers, French fries, and a Coke was the iconic date night meal for Bob and I when we were young.   It still makes for some pretty tasty munching.   The oldest hamburger chain was White Castle, also in Wichita, established in 1921. Noah was just ahead of them.  They undoubtedly got the idea from him…

As the new bride of his eldest son in 1958, I was slicing some onions for him at a family dinner and he said, “Blankety, blank, you call that thin?”  I never could slice them to suit him, so he did it himself.  He could be a grouchy old goat, but I loved him anyway. 

He liked to fish but never was successful at it.  If you wanted a day of futile fishing, getting his line out of a tree, using one of his newly purchased gadgets guaranteed to catch fish, and listening to his colorful vocabulary, you would want to go with Noah.  He always had lots of thinly sliced onions to go on the sandwiches he packed for lunch.  I think he wanted to put fish on his café menu but it didn’t work out.

I never knew the name of his restaurant but I’d say there was a good chance it was simply called “Noah’s Café.”  He didn’t operate it very long because he usually had a new adventure in mind.  In the spring of 1920, he traded the business for a 1919 Studebaker along with some cash and went on his way.  No one seems to know what his next endeavor was.

The building is long since gone and so is my father-in-law, but I’ll be chuckling about his onion comment until the next time I see him.  He’ll probably be slicing onions somewhere…

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