Journeying with Jacque

John Coble, Wyoming Cattle Baron

In October 2021, John and Georgene Coble made the cover of ACJ American and were profiled in an article on page 27.

In the article, John and Georgene were described as “a team whose dedication to the Chi-influenced cattle breed has spanned almost three decades (2001 ACA).” The Cobles were lauded for their decades of cattle management and promotion of Chi (Italian Chianina cattle) genetics as well as the show circuit. The article also shared that “John and Georgene Coble are from the Pennsylvania Dutch Country near Hershey, PA…by the late 60s the ‘expanded’ Coble Team included children, and they hear the call to go west. Way west, to the Bitterroot country of western Montana (2001 ACA).”

There was another John Coble born in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country of Pennsylvania who heard “the call to go west.” This John Coble (John Cathcart Coble) headed to Wyoming.

John C. Coble was known as a “bucking horse contractor.” He bought the horse, Steamboat, who is considered to be the “Greatest Bucking Horse of All Time.” He was notorious for “tossing cowboys like rag dolls (McKee).” Steamboat was such a sensation that he has been memorialized on the Wyoming license plate (American Profile) and as the logo for the University of Wyoming (Steamboat).

John C. Coble was a very successful cattleman in Wyoming. He was referred to as a Cattle Baron or the Cattle King. He owned the Iron Mountain Ranch Company and was a member of the Wyoming Cattleman’s Association. Furthermore, he became very wealthy and was well respected. Alas, life was not always easy for the cattlemen. Wyoming was overrun with cattle rustlers and sheep farmers who tried to infringe on cattle ranch property, and “Coble was a man who hated rustlers, and even more than the rustlers hated sheep farmers (Whitlow).”

The rustlers and sheep farmers became such a problem that John Coble and the other cattlemen decided to hire Tom Horn, a “Cattle Detective” to deal with the problem any way he saw fit. Tom Horn had quite a reputation for using controversial methods and was recognized for being a very good shot. Tom dealt with “things” any way he chose to, even though law-abiding people would not agree with him. He had no qualms about doing whatever he felt it took to get the job done. John Coble continued to support Tom Horn, but the other cattlemen began to voice concern.

Things came to a head with John Coble and sheep rancher Kels Nickell who alienated other ranchers when he damned the water and cut off the water supply to many other ranches. Their feud was ongoing, but finally, Coble had enough and threatened Nickell.  Kels Nickell retaliated and stabbed John Coble. John Coble hired Tom Horn to take care of Kels Nickell.

At some point, someone took a shot at Nickell. Since he didn’t die, some doubted that it was Tom Horn since he was such a good shot. Nickell stayed inside and sent his 14-year-old son out to do the chores around the ranch. Someone then took a shot at the boy and killed him. Tom Horn was blamed, even though he had an alibi. While drunk, he made a comment that wasn’t an admission of guilt but nonetheless led to his death sentence for murder.

John Coble vowed to support Tom Horn and pay for his defense. This was very expensive and John Coble lost his fortune. After Tom Horn was hanged, John Coble moved to Nevada. Tragically, John C. Coble never recovered and committed suicide in an Elko hotel.

In 1980 Steve McQueen starred in a movie about Tom Horn. This is where we first heard of John Coble and wanted to know if he was a real person and if so, was he related.

The answer is, yes, John Cathcart Coble was a real person. Is he related to our John Coble? It’s possible but so far, I have not been able to find the evidence. John Cathcart Coble was born in 1859 in Carlisle, Cumberland, Pennsylvania. His father was John Eberly Coble who was born in 1826. He was born in Pennsylvania and lived in Cumberland, Pennsylvania. John E. Coble’s father was Daniel Coble who was born in 1794. I can’t find where he was born, but he was buried in Cumberland, Pennsylvania. (The Mennonites kept good records in Pennsylvania, but I have been unable to locate any records beyond Daniel.) So was John Cathcart Coble a direct ancestor of our Coble branch? No. But it is possible that he was a relative. So far, I cannot find Daniel’s parents. His father may have been a brother or a cousin of our first ancestor to arrive in America, Jacob Kobel who was born in 1768 in Germany and died in Conewago, Dauphin, Pennsylvania. Our branch of the Coble family still has ties to the family homestead, and we are on the 9th generation of Cobles who has consistently lived on this property.

So is John Cathcart Coble part of our family lore? Possibilities exist and more research may tell the whole story.

Sources

“2001 ACA National Show & Sale Salutes the Coble Team.” ACJ America, vol. 29, no. 5, Oct. 2001, p. 27.

American Profile. “Wyoming License Plate’s Bucking Horse.” American Profile, 27 Apr. 2003, americanprofile.com/articles/wyoming-license-plates-bucking-horse/.

“Horn’s Curse Follows Coble Wherever He Goes.” Eureka Sentinel, 19 Sept. 1914, p. 1.

McKee, Vonn. “Steamboat: ‘The Closest Thing to Perpetual Motion That Ever Wore Hair’.” Western Fictioneers, 27 Jan. 2019, westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/2019/01/steamboat-closest-thing-to-perpetual.html.

“Steamboat: Wyoming’s Wildest Resident.” American Heritage Center (AHC) #AlwaysArchiving, 22 Apr. 2022, ahcwyo.org/2022/07/25/steamboat-wyomings-wildest-resident/.

“Tom Horn’s Backer Commits Suicide in Elko Hotel.” Tonopah Daily Bonanza, 7 Dec. 1914, p. 4.

“Tom Horn-Delta.” Deltavan1, 15 Feb. 2017, deltavan1.wordpress.com/2017/02/15/tom-horn-delta/.

“Tom Horn.” Tom Horn III–Wyoming Tales and Trails, www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/horn5.html. Accessed 5 Jan. 2024.

“Tom Horn: Wyoming Enigma.” Tom Horn: Wyoming Enigma | WyoHistory.Org, www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/tom-horn-wyoming-enigma. Accessed 5 Jan. 2024.

Whitlow, Simone Toni. “John Coble.” Tales of History and Imagination, 26 May 2020, historyandimagination.com/tag/john-coble/.

The Emma Hunt and More

Today when people ask me what I do, I now reply, “I search for Emmas.” It all started with a quilt.

The Cobles were in Billings this summer celebrating Gary’s mom’s 90th birthday. Gary’s brother Joel mentioned that he was trying to decide what to do with the quilt that he had inherited; he thought that they might want to donate it to an historical society or museum since it had been made in the 1800s. They knew that it was a family quilt and that “Emma” made the quilt but had no other information and asked if I could see what I could find about a family member named Emma.

I went home and found the “perfect” Emma. Emma Matilda Clewell Frantz was the sister of Amelia who is Pa’s mother (this Emma was Gary’s great-grandaunt). Emma Matilda was born on September 10, 1884 to Daniel Clewell and died February 26, 1963. She married George Frantz in October 1913 but they had no children. Emma worked as a sewing machine operator for an upholstering company. Since she had no children, it makes sense that she would have left her quilt to her nephew.

So again, she is the perfect Emma.

Then Joel went home and discovered that the quilt was made between November 1885 and April 1888. Even if Emma Matilda was extremely precocious, it is unlikely she would have started quilting at the age of one.

I once again began to search for Emmas. I found two more Emma Matildas (who knew that would be such a popular name). Emma Matilda Jacoby Oerter was born on December 12, 1874 to Charles and Sarah Jacoby.  The other Emma was Emma Matilda Jacoby Bachman, born December 11, 1850 to Benjamin and Margaret “Rebecca” Jacoby. Jacoby was the maiden name of Gary’s maternal grandmother. Okay, now we’re narrowing it down…until Gary’s mom, Georgene reflects back on her memories of receiving the quilt and realized the quilt came from her father’s side, not her mother’s, so the two Jacoby Emmas don’t work. “I do know the quilt was from dad’s family because Aunt Elta (dad’s sister) gave it to me when Jo Ann had an open house get-together when she and Tom lived on Green Pond Road. That would have been around early 1970s and Aunt Elta said she thought the quilt was about 100 years old. It was then put in my cedar chest which was my 16th birthday present that Pappy made and stayed there until Joel got it.”

Since the quilt came from the Huber side of the family, I got out the “Big Red Book.” This is the Genealogical History of the descendants of Johann Franz Huber also known as John Francis Huber, researched, compiled, and written by Gloria C. Hartzell (there are 498 pages in this book). In 1970 Gloria met Elta Huber Bonner from our branch of the family and they worked closely together to identify ancestors and relatives and shared information they both spent years collecting.

I went to the index of this book and counted Emmas. I found 91 Emmas. Some of them are duplicates because if they were direct ancestors they are listed by both their maiden name and their married names. Some lived in other parts of the country and since the book encompasses the years 1751–1983 not all Emmas were from the right time period. I found two Emmas who are likely candidates for making this quilt, though this is just speculation on my part.

Emma Jane and Emma Maria were cousins who both lived in and had ties to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Their grandparents were Adam and Hannah Hess Huber.

Emma Jane Huber Leibert was born in 1858 to Francis and Maria Huber. She died in 1911. Emma Maria Huber Vogel was born in 1863 to Tobias and Catharine Huber. She died in 1944.

It is unclear how Aunt Elta got the quilt but beginning in 1971 there were Huber Reunions that Aunt Elta helped organize so she had many Huber connections. We may never know the whole story of the quilt, but it is in excellent condition and should certainly be treasured.

Reflections of 2023 beyond Emmas

Even after six years of retirement, I still get asked, “What do you do?” Well, if I’m not hunting Emmas, you might find me sitting on my patio with a cup of tea or a glass of wine and reading. According to Good Reads (which is connected to my Kindle), as of December 14, I read 70 books for the year (and no, I didn’t stop reading on Dec. 14). I also read one print book that a friend loaned me. I certainly can entertain myself with my reading, my genealogy research (including working on my trees), my blog, my photo book projects and my recipe calendar. I am woefully behind on most of my projects, but that just means I never have an excuse to be bored.

Ah, just in case this sounds like I’m a bit isolated and reclusive, that’s not really the case (though I have friends who seem to think I am). Gary and I take advantage of the opportunity to travel while we still feel youngish and are in pretty good health. 2023 was no exception. Our first big trip of the year was to Hawaii. We spent three days in Oahu, then went on a cruise of the Islands. We got the chance to spend time in Maui before the horrific fire. We got some wonderful pictures of the world-famous banyan tree; Gary bought a ukulele right across the street from it.

Furthermore, we later went to Palm Springs to connect with friends, attended two Renaissance Faires (Arizona and Colorado), and spent a seek in Carlsbad enjoying our time with close friends.

Our last big trip was a Globus bus tour of Europe. We started in Amsterdam and ended in Paris, visiting nine countries. Other than Italy, Monaco and part of France, these were countries (and cities) we had never been to before, and seriously, seeing the Mona Lisa in person was definitely a bucket list item. Gary and I both have ancestors who were from Holland and Germany. Gary also has ancestors from Austria and Switzerland (and possibly France). We had a wonderful time and had great experiences. It really is amazing to actually explore these countries and enjoy these special adventures.

2023 was also a year when we got to connect with family. Our first family trip was in May to watch Scott bowl in Reno, then in June we headed to Montana to celebrate Georgene’s 90th birthday. We celebrated multiple times over the week we were there. Next up was the Coble Family Reunion in Ohio. It was my first time visiting Ohio and we had a great time. It’s always special to visit with the aunts, uncles, and many cousins. Jody and Brian visited us in Vegas on Halloween where we enjoyed the wildlife on Fremont Street. Joel, Sally, and John also visited the Vegas area and we discovered a new favorite restaurant. We were fortunate to spend time with my family in Eureka Springs, Arkansas the week before Thanksgiving. It’s a delightful town with good restaurants and plenty of shopping. This is an exciting time because our family is expecting two babies in the next few months. We’ll definitely have to plan a 2024 family trip to meet the newest family members.

While we didn’t go to as many shows and concerts as usual, we saw Michael Jackson One in January, the Chicks in May, and later saw Buddy Guy at the Smith Center. We have tickets to see Mannheim Steamroller on December 29th.

On a personal note, this has been the year that I decided to “ditch the dye.” (Oh how I wish I would have made this decision during the COVID shutdown…) We were watching a show on TV, Night Office, and one of the characters had gorgeous “gray/silver” hair. I told Gary, “If my hair would look like that, I would definitely grow it out.” That was my spark. Then I started to have a reaction to the chemicals when I colored my hair and decided it was time. A friend of mine decided to grow out her hair too, so I made the commitment. I wrote how my red hair was part of my identity and how that came to be in my blog post dated July 2023 found at https://journeyingwithjacque.com/random-month-7-of-12-ancestors-in-12-months/.

I really enjoy living in our small 55+ community located within a huge metropolitan area. We have the small town feel combined with all that a large city offers. We’re going to celebrate New Year’s Eve having dinner with friends in our community…and yes, we plan to celebrate at the same time our East Coast friends are. Of course, next year we can always celebrate the way Hofbräuhaus, one of our favorite restaurants does, and ring in the New Year at midnight Munich time which is at 3:00 p.m.

And as for my New Year’s resolution, I still want to lose those 10 pounds.

Sometimes we live a simple life; sometimes we live a crazy, chaotic life. It’s all good. So when I’m asked, “What do you do?”, my answer is, “It depends.”

Sources

Coble, Jacquelyn. “Random – Month 7 of 12 Ancestors in 12 Months.” Journeying with Jacque, WordPress, 7 July 2023, journeyingwithjacque.com/random-month-7-of-12-ancestors-in-12-months/.

Hartzell, Gloria C. Genealogical History of John Francis Huber from Bucks County, PA, and His Descendants, with Related Families, 1751-1983. G.C. Hartzell, 1983.

“My Year in Books.” Goodreads, Goodreads, 14 Dec. 2023, www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2023.