While growing up in Niagara Falls, New York, Ernie Whaley’s prized possession was a brown bear rug.
It was his only tangible connection to his family in Shell, Wyoming, that he had visited decades ago as a young boy.
“I remember a woman they called Aunt Franny,” said Whaley, 68. “When I left, she gave me a bear rug that had the head and claws.”
Ernie had kept the rug in his room for years and only knew that a relative had shot it. He wasn’t even sure who “Aunt Franny” was until his nephew, Will Whaley, started posting family pictures on the “10 Things I remember about Greybull, Wyoming” Facebook page.
Will, 36, had inherited a 1925 family album of a road trip to Yellowstone and Wyoming.
He wanted to know who the people were and almost immediately, two of his Whaley first cousins, twice removed, contacted him.
Will also heard from old family friends and others who knew the Wyoming Whaleys well. T
he people and locations in the old family album were quickly identified, and Will was ecstatic to receive family stories.
The Wyoming branch knew right away who had shot the bear that had become his Uncle Ernie’s rug.
“It was Grandpa Tom who shot the bear,” Cynthia Whaley Lanahan, 63, told Cowboy State Daily. “I have a picture of him holding the bear.”
Her Grandma Franie would have been a widow when Ernie visited and Lanahan was a youngster herself at the time. Their grandfathers were brothers which would make them first cousins, once removed.
“I didn’t know I had family in New York still, but that is where my grandfather and grandmother met,” Lanahan said. “My grandfather had gone out there to go to college, and was working at the cereal factory when he met my grandmother and got married.”
Left, despite losing touch with their relatives in Wyoming, the Whaley family in New York was aware of its Wyoming history because of an article written in the December 1970 True Frontier magazine. Right, Clifford “Cliff” Whaley (far right) was raised in Shell, Wyoming on the family homestead. In the early 1900s, he was sent to school in Niagara Falls, New York with his younger brother, Thomas. While Thomas returned to Wyoming with his New York bride, Cliff ended up living in New York permanently where his descendants remain. (Frontier Magazine, December 1970; Courtesy Ernie Whaley) 
Clifford Whaley was raised in Shell, Wyoming, on the family homestead. In the early 1900s, he went to school in New York and met his future wife, Evelyn Hill Whaley. (Courtesy Ernie Whaley) 
Ernest Whaley, the son of Clifford Whaley, lived in Wyoming for a few years after the death of his first wife. He returned to New York, his hometown, when his mom asked him to come back. The photo of him in his cowboy hat is a prized photo of his family who have always been proud of their Western roots. (Courtesy Ernie Whaley)
Digging Up The Family Story
Will, the great-grandson of Clifford Whaley of Shell, had inherited the family photos after his father died last year.
What little that Will knew about his family roots were from an article in the December 1970 Real Frontier magazine by Vera Saban, who he later learned was one of his many Wyoming relatives.
Saban had written that Will’s great-grandfather, Cliff, had first arrived in Shell in 1890 from Texas when he was only a toddler and Tom, Cynthia’s grandfather, had not yet been born.
Whaley family lore said that Cliff’s wails from the covered wagon would bring the men over because the youngster did not want to ride with his mother and siblings.
They then would take turns carrying the two and half year old on their horses most of the fifteen hundred miles to Wyoming.
William and Alice Whaley, Cliff’s parents, had married in 1874. They had six children and seven crop failures when William got Oregon fever.
They loaded their children and belongings into wagons and on horses for the long trek.
Their oldest, Lucy, was 11 years old and their youngest Jay, was less than 3 months old, when they headed to their new home.
At South Pass, Saban wrote that William chose the path leading to the right and left the Oregon Trail.
They wintered in Lander and decided that Wyoming would be their new home rather than Oregon. William then, after much time searching out land, chose Shell Creek for his new homestead.
“Often Alice Cutter Whaley lifted her eyes to the magnificent Big Horns, and took courage,” Saban wrote. “The first day she had come to this valley she had noticed the inverted wedge of a mountain at the mouth of Horse Creek.”
The wedge formed a perfect “W” in the face of the mountain that Alice believed stood for Whaley.
She saw the “W” as an omen, and Saban said "that this settling in was the right one and hopefully, the last one for the Whaley family."
For most of the Whaley family that was true, but not for one son.
William and Alice Whaley arrived in Shell, Wyoming, in 1890 where they raised eight children. Seven remained in Wyoming but their son, Clifford, moved to New York for school. He raised his own family back East and kept in touch with his Wyoming family but, over the years, the families lost touch. (Courtesy Ernie Whaley) 
William and Alice Whaley arrived in Shell, Wyoming, in 1890 where they raised eight children. Seven remained in Wyoming but their son, Clifford, moved to New York for school. He raised his own family back East and kept in touch with his Wyoming family but, over the years, the families lost touch. (Courtesy Ernie Whaley) 
William and Alice Whaley arrived in Shell, Wyoming, in 1890 where they raised eight children. Seven remained in Wyoming but their son, Clifford, moved to New York for school. He raised his own family back East and kept in touch with his Wyoming family but, over the years, the families lost touch. (Courtesy Ernie Whaley)
Eastern Migration
According to family history that had been handed down through both family lines, Clifford and his younger brother, Thomas Whaley, were sent from their ranch in Wyoming to Niagara Falls, New York, to go to school.
This was the home state of their mother Alice, and it is surmised that she kept connections back East. Both young men were employed at the Shredded Wheat Company, later known as Nabisco.
Tom ultimately returned to Wyoming with his New York bride, Franie, but Cliff stayed and raised his family back East, continuing to work for the cereal company.
He kept in touch with his family, but the distance and time proved too much and the ties grew weaker with each succeeding generation.
“Our branch of the family pretty much has stayed in Western New York since,” Will said. “Our family history has always been important — my dad, my aunt — they always shared stories growing up about Wyoming.”
In 1925, Clifford Whaley of New York took his family on a vacation to Wyoming where he had grown up. They visited family and Yellowstone. A century later, his great-grandson posted these pictures on Facebook and was able to reconnect with his Wyoming relatives. (Courtesy Ernie Whaley) 
In 1925, Clifford Whaley of New York took his family on a vacation to Wyoming where he had grown up. They visited family and Yellowstone. A century later, his great-grandson posted these pictures on Facebook and was able to reconnect with his Wyoming relatives. (Courtesy Ernie Whaley) 
Left, Tom Whaley is pictured with a brown bear he shot near Shell, Wyoming. The bear rug was then given to his young nephew, Ernie Whaley, who grew up in New York, only dimly aware of his relatives in Wyoming and not sure of the history of the rug. Right, the photo Will Whaley posted an old family photo of unknown relatives in Shell, Wyoming on the “10 Things I Remember About Greybull” Facebook page. (Courtesy Ernie Whaley) 
Will Whaley of New York posted an old family photo of unknown relatives in Shell, Wyoming on the “10 Things I Remember About Greybull” Facebook page and within a day, the relatives were identified as his great-grandfather’s aunt and uncle. Whaley was also reconnected with lost family members in Wyoming and is discovering family stories about his pioneer roots in the Cowboy State. (Courtesy Ernie Whaley)
Trips Back To Wyoming
Cliff had gone back to Wyoming briefly with his new bride to live with his parents on the ranch but ended up returning to New York.
“I could just imagine my grandfather leaving Wyoming and going to Niagara Falls where they had trolleys,” Ernie said. “It was just different, but he did good socially.”
Cliff was a Freemason and his wife was an Eastern Star. Ernie said that his grandparents did a lot of entertaining and used to play pinochle with their friends.
Each generation thereafter would return briefly to visit relatives in Wyoming and even move temporarily until the families completely lost touch of each other.
Before the connections were lost, Cliff took his family to Wyoming for a long vacation and this is the 1925 photo album that prompted Will to post pictures on Facebook and connect with his Wyoming relatives.
Another trip that the New York Whaley’s are aware of back to Wyoming is when Cliff’s son, Ernest, born in 1911, worked on the ranch in Wyoming when he was a young man.
The picture of his dad in his cowboy hat is one of Ernie’s favorite family portraits.
“Dad had a first wife that died in childbirth, and he left, and headed out to Wyoming, worked on his grandfather's ranch for a couple years,” Ernie said. “The story goes that his mom missed him so much, she talked him into coming back.”
Ernie’s own visit to Wyoming, when Aunt Franie gave him the bear rug, was in the 1960s. He remembers his usually cautious mom trying to take his photo with a live bear in Yellowstone.
“My mother decides she’s going to get out of the truck with me, have me toss bread to a bear, and take a picture,” Ernie said. “We get out, I toss the bread, the bear grabs it without stopping and keeps coming.
"I ran, jumped in the truck, slammed the door and she was so mad at me because she didn’t get her picture.”
Ernie’s older brother, Will’s dad, also lived in Wyoming for a spell.
“When my brother went out, he went to Shell and was asking around, and the waitress says, I'm just looking at you, I can tell you're a Whaley,” Ernie said.
In 2007, Will made his own trip to Wyoming as a young teenager with his family, but by then, the family had lost touch with all their relatives and only visited the landmarks.
The Whaley family had homesteaded in Shell, Wyoming, in 1890 and all but one of the eight children had raised their own families in Wyoming. (Courtesy Cynthia Whaley Lanahan) 
The Whaley family had homesteaded in Shell, Wyoming, in 1890 and all but one of the eight children had raised their own families in Wyoming. (Courtesy Cynthia Whaley Lanahan) 
The Whaley family had homesteaded in Shell, Wyoming, in 1890 and all but one of the eight children had raised their own families in Wyoming. (Courtesy Cynthia Whaley Lanahan) 
Cynthia Whaley Lanahan grew up in Greybull, Wyoming and knew that her great-grandmother was originally from New York. She didn’t realize, however, that one of her great-uncle’s had gone back and raised a branch of the family in New York until her first cousin, twice removed, started posting old family photos on Facebook. (Courtesy Cynthia Whaley Lanahan)
Reconnecting With Wyoming
“My dad was always very interested in Wyoming and just the West in general,” Will said. “He had a real fascination with it.”
When Will was left with the photo album, he was eager to learn all he could about his Wyoming family and is excited to learn what other family treasure he has yet to uncover.
“I just googled “Whaley Wyoming” and found a post about a Jim Whaley,” Will said. “I had a picture in the album that says 'Jim’s Cabin,' so I posted that, and I thought maybe there are still people out there that would care about these.”
The picture was recognized and Jim was identified as an uncle to the Whaley’s in New York.
“Family members I didn’t know existed have reached out,” Will said. “Even people who aren’t family are saying how cool it is — what a great piece of Wyoming history.”
Lanahan is just as excited to meet her New York family members. She had grown up in Greybull, unaware she still had relatives back in New York.
Now she is working with Will to add the new branch to the Whaley family tree on ancestry.com.
She said that they had just held a Whaley family reunion in Shell and would love to plan another get-together so that the Wyoming Whaley’s can meet their long-lost relatives.
“It’s just really cool to discover connections you didn’t know existed,” Will said. He is still reeling from the shock of finding his extended family so quickly and the eagerness they all have to one day meet.
“Wyoming just always was important to us,” he said. “It’s been cool to discover our family stories.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
