Filling in the blanks

Ray Waliser and his sister, Karen Herold, were guests at Tuesday Talks on April 30.

Wailser and Herold did a presentation on the history of their great-grandparents, John and Mary Swanson, and what they did for the Platte Valley. The Swansons raised five children and worked to give the next generation a better future.

The Swanson family comes alongside Waliser and Herold’s Mother, Thelma (Swanson) Waliser. Waliser is the fourth-generation to be raised on his family ranch on South Creek.

Despite what Waliser and Herold may know about the history of the Swanson family, they are still searching for answers to some questions. To this day there are still mysteries about the Swanson family history, They were still able to tell their audience as much as they could based on their research.

The Swanson family was one of many settlers in the Platte Valley during the 1870s. John Swanson worked for the railroad in Fort Steele.

According to travelwyoming.com, Fort Steele was established in 1868 to protect the railroad work crews against Indian attacks and was occupied until 1886. It is located 12 miles east of Rawlins, Wyoming and 1.25 miles north of Fort Steele Rest Area near Interstate 80. Waliser said Swanson worked for the railroad company from 1873 to 1899 and left the company to focus on his interest in becoming a rancher. Waliser said his family set the standards of hard work for other generations to follow.

“Our family were pioneers in this Valley who worked hard,” Wailser said. “They set the example of being good citizens and helped settle into the country. It’s all about who they are and where they came from.”

The Swanson family purchased land in the Platte Valley in hopes it could be passed down to the next generation of their family. Waliser said his great-grandfather wanted to buy land for his children so they could pass down a family legacy to their children and children’s children.

“My great-grandpa’s goal was to buy land for his children,” Waliser said. “The first property he bought was in 1886, where we grew up and Karen lives now. “

The house Waliser and Herold grew up in once belonged to Swanson’s oldest son Augustine (August), a confirmed bachelor. Waliser said the Swansons continued to invest in property in the Platte Valley and Carbon County. One investment they made was when they purchased a hotel in Fort Steele.

“When the Swansons were living in Fort Steele, Mary ran a hotel and John purchased one of them,” Waliser said. “A man named Herbie, it was not his real name but that’s what the folks in the town called him, had dementia to the point he had forgotten he sold the hotel to John for $1,000. Herbie was not too happy he did not own the hotel anymore.”

Waliser said he did a lot of research to find answers to his family ancestry. He had to investigate to find documents, artifacts, and records which were legitimate to show evidence of where, when, what and how everything started for the Swanson family.

“One of our objectives was to not rewrite history but to come up with stuff that is as accurate as possible,” Waliser said. “We have found dates we were looking for that were close, but not absolute. We needed to know as much (as possible) about the people because they were just not people but someone who is part of our community history.”

Herold said what she and her brother have long regretted was they did not ask questions before older family members passed on.

“Ray and I are now the older generation in the family and we wished we had asked more questions when our parents and other family members were still with us,” Harold said. “So much family history has been lost because we didn’t ask questions.”

Herold gave a brief history of the Swanson’s children, where they were born and where they lived. The Swanson’s oldest son, August, was born in Sweden before immigrating to the United States.

“John and Mary had five children. August was born in Sweden and ranched on what was known as the home place,” Herold said. “Ben was born in Grenville and ranched, Charles was born at Fort Steele and was a machinist and worked on the railroad in Montana before he returned to the Valley and ranched. Lillie was born at Fort Steele, she married Ed Hutchison and they also ranched and Frank was born at Fort Steele, he had a dairy and also ranched.”

Herold lives in the house once owned by August Swanson. She said her children are the fifth generation to live in that historic house.

“The house August lived in was built in the 1890s and it is a log house that sits on a foundation of sandstone rock,” Herold said. “The interior walls are log and are finished with lathe and plaster. The interior woodwork, doors (and) windows are all recycled from officer quarters that Mary Swanson bought at Fort Steele after the fort was decommissioned. My children are the fifth generation that has lived in this house.”

Waliser and Harold still live in the Platte Valley and are still working to solve the mystery of the Swanson Family history. They are working to find any document that will help them find the answers they are looking for.