Shaffer family holds reunion

In 1913, Hot Springs County became a county after being carved out of Fremont, then Big Horn Counties.

In 2013, the local Centennial Committee offered a tree planting program to promote the centennial celebration by asking local citizens to plant a tree. There were 100 trees planted around the county, each receiving a small brass commemorative plate to bear witness of the tree. A record of those numbered trees are in the time capsule, currently held at the County Museum.

The official county tree was planted in the grassy area behind the County Library. At the time, the Charles B. Shaffer descendants offered to purchase a commemorative tree and plant it in memory of their patriarch. The Board of HSC Commissioners agreed and participated in the planting of a Burr Oak tree during the summer of 2013. The small brass plate was attached and our county tree was established. This was tree # 6, of the 100 planted.

This past weekend, the Shaffer Family held a reunion and met at the

county tree for a commemorative ceremony to remember their early pioneer grandfather and view the memorial stone placed at the foot of the tree. The stone reads, "Centennial Tree #6; Planted in Memory of County Pioneer, Charles B. Shaffer, 1882-1973.

Charlie came to Wyoming in 1890 with his family and settled in the Lander area, where he grew into a young man, living a cowboy's life and helping settle the west. He married Nancy Pearle Renfro in Denver, Colo. in 1906 and moved to the Embar Ranch on Owl Creek in January 1907. He eventually purchased the Virgil Rice place on lower Owl Creek in 1924 and lived there until 1950, when he retired, but continued to live within the county until his death.

It is somewhat apropos to note that he used the P6 brand (representing P for Pearle and 06 as the year they were married), also the number of the Centennial Tree.

The public is invited to go by and look at the tree and the newly installed memorial stone.