Named for Sam Gebo, a promoter of the surrounding coal properties. (Annals of Wyoming 14:3) Gebo Post Office was established on January 11, 1908 with Samuel W. Gebo as its first postmaster. (Wyoming Post Offices) Samuel W. Gebo, immigrated from France in the early 1880's. He became associated with the Northern Pacific Railroad and while prospecting for coal for railroad use, opened a mine west of Fromberg, Montana, which took on the name of Gebo. Upon learning of the superior quality of coal near Kirby (Wyoming), Gebo interested a number of eastern capitalists ... to supply money and organize the Owl Creek Coal Company to develop it. It became known as Gebo. (Wasden)
County:
Hot Springs
Feature Category:
Manmade Features
Stories:
Gebo is strictly a mining town. Its coal beds carry a very high grade of coal which is shipped to all parts of the United States although its heaviest market is the northwest. The town derives its name from Sam Gebo for whom the Gebo mine was named. It was not until 1897-98 that he prospected around Gebo. Gebo had worked in the coal fields of Pennsylvania and his whole life had practically been spent in some phase of the coal industry, so that when he found the Gebo vein, he recognized it as good coal. He filed on one hundred and sixty acres and a little later, Dad Jones, a prospector who had come over from the Black Hills, filed on another one hundred and sixty acres. Jones' mine later became known as the Crosby Mine. Ordinarily they would have had to pay twenty dollars per acre for these claims but because of their distance from a railroad they succeeded in getting the land for ten dollars an acre. A rancher sold part interest in his claim to Sam Gebo, a promoter rather than a miner. In 1906 another rancher sold his entire interest to Gebo. Sam Gebo went to New York City to interest men with money in the mine. He succeeded in interesting Mr. Sully. Gebo knew that Sully would not be interested in 160 acres, so he had all the surrounding land filed on under dummy names. All of these entries were entered at Lander on the same day, Sully paying the sum of $90,000 in cash for these entries. This was the largest sum of money ever to be received at one time at the Lander Land Office. Theodore Roosevelt was president at the time, and suspicious of the large amount of money paid into the land office, requested an investigation. It was found that some of the entries had been made under dummy names or under the names of men who had long since been dead. Declaring the filings fraudulent, the government confiscated the land without returning the money. Sam Gebo was forced to leave the country. He went to Guatemala where he remained a fugitive from justice. (WPA)
