A MAN CALLED  "TURPY" "He Who Speaks For Them"

     Jim Gatchell opened a drug store on Buffalo's Main Street.  From that location he served the frontier community for over fifty years.  Gatchell possessed a rare sense of humor and an understanding ear.  Young and old, rich and poor, Indian and white, came to his door.  He was a very generous man who gave freely of himself and his medicine to those in need.  

     When Gatchell arrived in Wyoming, the curtain had but recently fallen on many stirring acts in the pioneer drama of the Powder River Country.  Most of the principal actors such as General Crook, General MacKenzie,  Colonel Carrington, Captain Luther North, Frank Grouard, Portugee Phillips, Jim Bridger, the Cheyenne, Weasel Bear and Curley the Crow  had just exited the stage.  Some  were still living and Jim Gatchell knew many of them.

     Jim was intensely interested in the frontier-era of the Powder River Region.  Through his contacts with those who had made that history, he obtained eyewitness accounts from active participants on both sides of the fierce struggle between Native Americans and the pioneers.  Soon after his arrival in Wyoming, Gatchell met the famous scout, Frank Grouard, who was then stationed at Ft. McKinney near Buffalo.  They became close friends.  When Grouard was 19 years old, he was captured by the Lakota and after living with various bands for eight years, he married an Indian woman.  Grouard learned to speak the Lakota language fluently, and acquired a thorough knowledge of the traditions, myths, habits and characteristics of the Plains Indians.

     Through his association with Grouard, Jim honed his ability to speak Lakota and use the universal sign language to converse with members of other tribes, like the Cheyenne.  He became close friends with many warriors who shared their versions of the Indian struggle with the encroaching white men.  The information Gatchell obtained directly was far more accurate and historically valuable than that acquired through the use of interpreters.

     The Northern Cheyenne, in particular, regarded him as a valued friend and a great "Medicine Man."  It was not unusual for them to come hundreds of miles to seek his advice and aid for their ailments.  He often assisted in resolving disputes and misunderstandings between the tribes and agents on the reservations.  He was adopted by the Cheyenne and given the name of "Turpy" which means "He who speaks for them" or "In favor of them."

Jim Gatchell with his friend Weasel Bear

     These Cheyenne clearly trusted him and held him in high regard.  They knew that he never talked to them with a "forked tongue", and that he made no promises which he could not fulfill.  To show their appreciation they brought him rare gifts for his collection.  Many of these gifts were cherished possessions, the giving of which is the greatest favor a warrior could bestow.  Such was the gift by the Cheyenne Shave Head, of the Model 75 Springfield rifle taken as spoils of war in the Battle of the Little Big Horn.  Gatchell regarded this weapon as the most valuable item in his collection.  As the collection grew, so did Gatchell's fame as an authority on frontier history.  Noted writers, including George Bird Grinnell and Paul Wellman, sought him out for detailed information about historic events and personalities of the region.  Filling the back room of his store, the pharmacist collected military, Plains Indian, Bozeman Trail and Powder River artifacts, and Johnson County history, memorabilia and photographs.

     After his death in 1954, his family generously donated his priceless collection to the people of Johnson County.  To deal with the treasure, Johnson county residents raised $60,000 for a museum building, with Johnson County providing the land. The Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum officially opened on June 17, 1957.  The museum that grew from his crowded drugstore houses one of the richest collections of frontier artifacts in the Rocky Mountain West and items relating to the frontier experience in Wyoming's Powder River Region - the focal point of historic activity along the Bozeman Trail.  Detailed dioramas of the Wagon Box Fight, the Johnson County Cattle War of 1892, the siege at the TA Ranch and Buffalo's Main Street in 1894, allow a rare glimpse into life as it was in those days. 

      Inside the museum,  you will find a sheep wagon, representative of Johnson County's Basque people, and a military weapons display including rare guns typical of standard issue from nearby Fort Phil Kearny, whose short existence protecting the Bozeman Trail in the late 1860s lasted only two years.  

     Many exhibits contain the personal stories of owners whose lives, in some way either dramatically or more subtly, were a part of history - items such as a dime given to a small child by Calamity Jane, Metzer's bugle which survived the Fetterman Battle and which contributed to the legends about the 14-year-old soldier, and a bible used for comfort in a foreign land.

     These artifacts - approximately 9,500 - are on exhibit in the museum's 10,000 sq. ft. of floor space.  The museum office and gift shop are located in a former Carnegie library built in 1911, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

    The museum's holdings are a priceless resource, intriguing to the casual visitor and invaluable to students of America's pioneer history.