This Is Hyattville, Wyoming: Population 79, “Probably Counting Some Dogs”

HYATTVILLE — Nestled among the cottonwood, at the junction of Paintrock and Medicine Lodge creeks, is the small community of Hyattville.

It has survived the past century and a half as an agriculture community, but at one time was the center of commerce for the Big Horn Basin. The current population is one that is up for debate according to the locals.

“The sign says 79, probably counting some dogs,” Hyattville Postmaster Denise Herman said. “In 1887 it was quite the metropolis as far as bars and hotels and everything. But over the years, we've had less and less people.”

As visitors drive through, it is a trip back into time. The creek and surrounding landscape are much like it was when Hyattville was first settled in the late 1800s by homesteaders seeking a new life. The countryside itself had been used for over 10,000 years by ancient tribes as a trade route, hunting grounds and summer homes.

To reach the town, you can either take a gravel back road through the sagebrush dotted badlands or a paved road from Manderson or Ten Sleep. The town is near spectacular canyons with excellent trout streams and high mountain grandeur.

After working in Pinedale for years, Tim Kurtz chose Hyattville as his retirement home. He said you don’t end up in this rural community by accident.

“One thing that makes Hyattville different than, like, Ten Sleep is we're not on the road to Yellowstone or Grand Teton or anything like that,” he said. “People that end up here, unless they're lost, they came here on purpose. This was their destination.”

All In The Name

The town of Hyattville had originally been named Paintrock for the creek that ran through the area and the colorful rock bluffs.

According to B.F. Wickwire, an early pioneer, he had been told by a Native American woman he knew only as Emma that her people had named Paintrock Creek for the rock colors.

At one time, Emma said, there had been a battle near the mouth of the Paintrock and the tribal warriors had used the colors of clay found on the banks of the creek for ceremonies and war paint. Early pioneers had adopted the name for their community but that was all to change by one enterprising businessman.

In 1886, Col. Samuel W. Hyatt had come from Buffalo, Wyoming, to the Paintrock community to homestead. He opened a livery stable, saloon, general store and post office. His place of business was a log building about 30 by 60 feet, chinked with cement. The saloon was a lean-to attached to the log cabin where the local cowboys could gamble.

“Originally the name of this little settlement was Paintrock Crossing,” fourth-generation rancher Bill Greer told Cowboy State Daily. “But then old man Hyatt got the post office, and so he changed the name to Hyattville.”

When Hyatt became the first and only postmaster in the Big Horn Basin, he promptly renamed Paintrock to Hyattville by registering it through the post office on November 12, 1887. In later years residents, according to Greer, tried to change it back to its original name but were met with too much resistance and the name of Hyattville stuck.

Center Of Commerce

The mail route was vital to the Big Horn Basin and all mail went through Hyattville before the turn of the century. It reached its peak in 1892 according to the town historians when Tom Gebhart launched the local newspaper, The Paintrock Record.

“This was one of the first established communities in the Bighorn Basin, and they used to bring the mail over the mountain from Buffalo regularly,” said community member Brian Dunlop, “and it would be distributed through Hyattville here.”

Post offices began springing up in other small towns such as Embar and Basin, and Hyattville was no longer as vital for communication. However, it remained a thriving place to do business well into the 1960s, according to Greer who had been raised in the area on his family’s ranch. There were over 100 students in the 1950s when he was in school and the town was alive with activity.

“It was quite a thriving little place at one time,” Greer said. “You know, we had anything you would need such as shovels, fencing supplies, horseshoes, your food.”

Today, the only business that is open to the public is the small rural post office which closes each business day by 1:30 p.m. The other building that is open to the public is the Community Hall which is the converted school.

Banding Together To Preserve Their Town

“I think it's pretty typical small-town Wyoming, to be honest,” Herman said. Her family had homesteaded in the area in the late 1800s and she is known as the local historian. “I bet if you go to a lot of towns in Wyoming, this is what you'll see.”

“I'm new, I've only been here about 15 years, but one thing we've seen is just the community is so tight knit,” Dunlop said. “My dad, every time he comes down here, is just amazed at what a small community we have. I mean, just the fact that this community center is here is a testament to what these people can do.”

When the local school closed in 2001 and consolidated with Basin, the townspeople bought the building and now do fundraising to keep it open with their Memorial Day Weekend, Cowboy Carnival. The carnival helps to pay the cost of heating, electric and free wifi to keep the center open. Every morning, community members gather for coffee to discuss the news and weather.

“We really, with the community center, have focused on family and friends. We try to keep this very family oriented,” Herman said. “We don't have a lot of kids in town, but the ones that are here, come and play in the gym anytime they want to, and all you have to do is volunteer at the place.”

Not only did the town people come together to keep a large community center running, but they also are working actively to preserve their history. Their local historical society has published a book about Hyattville and the ghost town of Bonaza, “Paintrock Tales and Bonanza Trails,” that is available for sale on their town website. Over 400 pages long, this book shares the stories of the people and area.

“We’re actually doing the history of the town going building by building and going way, way back to try to figure the beginnings,” Herman said. “We’re using archives and people to discover the mysteries of Hyattville. It's a slow process but fun.”

“I would say Hyattville is a special little spot at the end of the road where community is everything,” Dunlop said.

Contact Jackie Dorothy at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com

Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.