Jessamine and Elsa Spear Scrapbook

Jessamine Spear Johnson (1886-1978)

In 1897, Jessamine Spear's mother (known as Belle) gave her 11 year old daughter her first camera - a glass-plate Kodak. Her photographic style was influenced by Miles City, Montana photographer L. A. Huffman and artist William "Bill" Gollings, both of whom spent time working at her father's ranches. Jessamine was a prolific photographer, and her images were used as advertisements for the Northern Pacific Railway. She often hand-colored her photographic prints.

In 1906, Jessamine married cattle and sheep rancher Will Johnson. They ran three ranches of their own and, in 1930, took over management of her father's ranch, the Spear O Wigwam Dude Ranch outside Sheridan, Wyoming. Along with her photography work, she also worked as a trail guide and a hostess at the dude ranch.

Elsa Spear Edwards Byron (1896-1992)

Much like her older sister Jessamine, Elsa was taught photography by her mother. During her childhoold, she rode alongside her family in cattle roundups on her father's ranch and later worked at the dude ranch, Spear O Wigwam Ranch, that her father founded.

In 1916, she married Harold Edwards, who worked for the Sheridan County Electric Company. She made annual pack trips with guests at her father's dude ranch, which provided Elsa with ample opportunities to photograph all over the mountains. One of the Big Horn Mountain lakes is named in her honor - Lake Elsa.

Like Jessamine, Elsa often hand-tinted her photographs. She solds prints to a number of other businesses, including the Burlington Railroads. She made her own enlargements by cutting a trap door in her kitchen ceiling in order to raise her projecter high enough over the floor.

Willis Spear (1862-1936)

Willis Spear was born in Missouri, but moved to Wyoming in 1883. In 1885 he married Virginia Bell Benton, and in 1896 he started his first cattle ranching operation with his brother. At its height, the Spear Brothers Cattle Company owned five ranches and leased 1,000,000 acres on the Crow Reservation. It ran 32,000 head of cattle of their own stock and 26,000 head of other's. Spear is credited with starting one of the first rural telephone lines, used to keep in touch with his various ranches.

The Spear Brothers Cattle Company dissolved in 1915, but Spear continued to work with other livestock companies. He also served as a Senator in the Wyoming State Legislature from 1918 to 1932.

Willis and Virginia Spear had four children: Willis B., Jessamine, Philip, and Elsa. Spear Lake in Wyoming was named in his honor.

Spear O Wigwam and Spear Ranch

When the severe drought of the Dust Bowl in the early 1920s nearly destroyed his cattle operations, Willis Spear built a "dude camp" that offered an "authentic" Western experience for travelers to enjoy. In 1923, the Spear O Wigwam was built as a "high camp" to complement the guest ranch at Spear Ranch.

The Spear O was built to mimic the shape of a traditional Native American dwelling. The lodge had an open fireplace in the middle of the room, which vented through an opening on the roof. In 1933, an extension was built and the shape of the building mimiced the shape of the ranch's brand. Guest cabins were eventually built around it, and all of the buildings featured a melding of Western and Native American style.

The Spear O Wigwam has seen a number of notable guests, many due to Willis Spear's connections as a state senator. The most famous guest is possibly Ernest Hemingway, who visited in 1928 with his wife Pauline and wrote the first draft of his novel 'A Farewell to Arms.'

The land the Spear O Wigwam is in Bighorn National Forest, and it operated under a special use permit from the US Forest Service. While the Spear O Wigwam is no longer owned by the Spear family, a partnership has purchased the ranch and is working to restore the facilities.