Sunday, May 6, 2012

Teepee Poles, Laramie Range


These photographs depict a teepee, sans cover, in the Laramie Range.

Teepee poles can last in place for eons, and typically the users didn't bother moving them if they could avoid it. This teepee, however, is likely not an Indian teepee.  The poles are wired together at the top, and the arrangement fairly crude.  This teepee likely is a sheepherders teepee.

But what about the date of it?  These photographs were taken in the mid 1980s.  Sheepherders generally quit using teepees in the early 1900s.  Is this that old?  It very well could be.  It cold also be, however, considerably newer.  Some holdouts kept using teepees into the 1930s, or in the case of manufactured ones, even later.  My guess is that this one fits into the 1930s to 1950s time frame.

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