By Phil Roberts
Many years ago, I gave a talk to the Laramie Lyceum about the unusual number of connections between Wyoming and Australia. I haven’t found the complete text of the presentation, but I think I used this anecdote as a starting point.
The text is from the Wyoming Tribune, Sept. 10, 1912, Section 2, p. 1:
“Australian Paper Gives Account of Richard’s Death
“The following account of the death of former Governor Richards, printed in a daily paper in Victoria, Australia, has been received in this city by Mrs. H. E. Cram and will be of general interest in this state as containing details not before published here:
“The career of a distinguished American citizen who had intended to make his home in Victoria was out about by the death of former Governor Richards of Wyoming, which occurred suddenly early yesterday morning (July 25, 1912) at Mann-house, a private hospital at East Melbourne. The body will be carried back to America on the steamer Sonoma, by which Mr. Elwood Mead, who was a close personal friend of the deceased gentleman, will travel from Sydney this afternoon.
“The late Mr. W. A. Richards came to Victoria on a visit with the American land-seekers’ excursion in May, with the object of inspecting the irrigation areas of the state, and also of renewing his acquaintance with Mr. Mead. He made so many friends in the state, however, and was so favorably impressed with the irrigation districts, that he decided to stay here. He had only recently applied for an allotment at Shepparton.” (A thriving sheep and crop agricultural center, the town was growing rapidly at the time with new rail connections 115 miles southeast to Melbourne).
“On Thursday Mr. Richards attended the farewell luncheon at state parliament house in honor of Mr. Mead. He was in his ordinary health at that time, but when walking in the street subsequently with Mr. Mead, he complained of pain in the region of the heart. At Mr. Mead’s suggestion, he consulted Dr. Mackeddie, whose surgery they were passing. Dr. Mackeddie took him to the hospital. Mr. Richards did not then appear to be seriously ill, but he had a heart seizure early yesterday morning, and died at 1 o’clock.
“Mr. Richards was born in Illinois. He was trained as a lawyer, and practiced at the bar. Having a desire for open-air life, and being threatened with lung trouble, he subsequently took up surveying in the state of Wyoming. There he rose to be surveyor general, and later governor of the state. Subsequently he acted as commissioner of the general land office at Washington, and also land tax commissioner at Wyoming.
“After retiring from public life he went in extensively for irrigation. Mr. Mead, who was much affected by the sudden death of his old friend, yesterday cabled the news to Senator Warren of Wyoming, and Mr. K. P. Adams of San Francisco. Mr. Mead was also asked by the state ministry to make all necessary arrangements on the behalf for the conveyance of the body to America, and to express the cabinet’s sympathy with the relatives of Mr. Richards.
“The deceased was a wealthy widower, 63 years of age. He leaves two married daughters in America. Prior to his visit to Victoria, he suffered severely from shock as the result of the murder, in painful circumstances, of another daughter and her husband.
“Many years ago, when they were friends in Wyoming, Mr. Richards and Mr. Mead together bought a cemetery allotment, saying that they would be ‘buried there when they died, side by side. ‘I am taking the body to America with me,’ remarked Mr. Mead when he was interviewed yesterday prior to the departure of his train, ‘because I feel that in doing so, I am paying a tribute to an old friend who died in a strange laud. It is all I can do. He will be buried in the allotment he and I bought together before ever either of us thought of coming to Australia.”
“Mr. A. A. Sleight carried out the arrangements. The body was embalmed and robed in an evening dress suit of the American custom and hermetically sealed in lead and oak caskets.”
Elwood Mead
Elwood Mead (1858-1936) was Wyoming territorial engineer, appointed two years before statehood and served as the first Wyoming State Engineer. He helped craft Article 8 of the Wyoming Constitution, but did not serve as an official delegate. A native of Indiana, he authored Colorado’s water code while a professor teaching at Colorado A&M (now CSU). After his move to Wyoming in 1888, he lived in Cheyenne at 202 E. 23rd Street.
Recognized as the originator of Wyoming’s “prior appropriation” doctrine for water rights, he resigned after nearly ten years as the first State Engineer to advise the U. S. Department of Agriculture on water policy. Later, he traveled to Australia to write that country’s water code. Following his work there, he planned to accept the new job as professor of water law at the University of California, Berkeley. Former Gov. Richards attended his going-away party and the above article described the rest of the scene.
After teaching and consulting for several years, Mead was appointed director of the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation. Numerous huge dams were built or planned during his time as director, including Grand Coulee Dam in Washington, Fort Peck Dam in Montana, and Hoover Dam on the Colorado River. He was still serving as USBR director at his death in 1936.
Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam, is named for Dr. Elwood Mead.
For some years in the 1980s, the Wyoming State Engineers Office faced what had been Mead’s former home in Cheyenne.