Dickie Mausoleum, Hot Springs County, Wyoming
N 43 59.493 W 108 46.241
Elevation: 6592′
(There are five people buried here.)
Dave and James Dickie were born on the Islander Bute off the coast of Scotland. They tried New Zealand. Disillusioned with the conditions there, Dave came to San Francisco in 1884. He then took a job in the Rock Springs, WY area herding sheep for John Lobar. Bringing along a finely bred Scottish collie dog, James joined his brother. They eventually ended up on Enos Creek, then Gooseberry Creek in Hot Springs County. Other relatives came over. More history is contained in Hot Springs: A Wyoming County History by Dorothy Buchanan Milek.
Dave Dickie died of cancer. Some of the dividends from his holdings, given to relatives, were to be devoted toward completion of a mausoleum which David had started high on a hill, overlooking his ranch. Dave was buried there, and he also prepared a crypt for his brother James, but James, who died in 1936, requested burial among the pioneers at the Monument Hill Cemetery, in Thermopolis.
To reach the mausoleum, drive on US Hwy 20 West from the center of Thermopolis 33.6 miles to the junction of Hwy 20 and Hwy 431. Proceed another 4 miles to the LU Ranch Road, and turn on that dirt road to the left, or south. Cross Gooseberry Creek after 1.6 miles on the dirt. You will be monitored by Black-billed Magpies and 20 head of deer in the pastures on your left. Ring-necked Pheasants will scurry away from your vehicle into the shrubs. Watch closely as Northern Harriers (Marsh Hawks) glide very low over the pastures. The LU Ranch area is on your left, encircled by old cedar posts and wire fencing. At the ranch home site there is a nice black angus cattle-feeding operation going on. The sign says: Gooseberry Creek, Grass Creek, or Enos Creek. Continue straight along the upper Gooseberry Road. This is 3 miles from the last mark. Cross Gooseberry Creek the 2nd time after 1 more mile. You are now 43.2 miles from downtown Thermopolis.
Leave the main road and turn to the left on a grassy trail. You are on private property, ask permission before proceeding! It is 1.5 miles to the top of the small mountain. You can walk or drive, depending on your equipment. Follow this rutted, dirt trail between rocky hillsides and cedar brush, and wind up a small canyon. You will need 4-wheel drive, low gear at this point. There is one spot in the trail, about halfway up the canyon where large rocks have fallen on the road. There is room for passage with only 5-6 inches of clearance on either side of your vehicle. After the steep canyon, with deer watching you struggle up the “road” you get to an open grassy hill. Go on up the mountain, and near the top you will see the mausoleum on your left. If you are squeamish about driving on such a road, or do not have a 4-wheel drive, it is a nice hike up the mountain. If driving, you can park at the foot of the concrete steps leading up to the crypt.
There are 29 steps to the mausoleum, which sits on the absolute tip of the small mountain. The building, built of granite blocks, is ten feet square and about 12 feet high, is set on a large concrete pad. On the east side, there are two large stone planters in front and metal doors which are locked. There is a stained-glass window on the West. Above the doors, 19 Dickie 29, is engraved in the stone. Inside you can read:
David Dickie 1861–1935
Robert Dickie 1880–1967
Leaving the building, you can hike down one side of the hill for a hundred feet or so, and there is another crypt sitting on a concrete block. It is also granite, with the following engraved on the front side, facing east:
Joe Garcia
Died March 27, 1972
Just a few feet to the south of this single crypt, is a headstone which says:
Nancy Bain Buckles
1935–1990
Nancy Bain Buckles
September 29, 1935 – October 5, 1990
“Anthropologist by osmosis. Raised at Dickie, Wyoming and died in Pueblo, Colorado. A special wife, sister, mother, friend, and scholar. Lived and worked in Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Michigan, Kansas, Colorado, Republic of Sudan, and Mexico.”
Beside Nancy’s grave is that of her sister a stone of exact size and shape which says:
Dorothy Ellen
BAIN FOLEY
1928–2004
Home to the Hills
Dorothy Ellen Bain Foley
October 19, 1928 to February 13, 2004
“Raised at Dickie, Wyoming and died at Ames, Iowa. Daughter of George G. Bain, manager of the LU, and Vera Bain, and sister of Nancy Bain Buckles. A beloved sister-in-law, aunt, teacher and advisor of foreign and American students who studied abroad, and world traveler, and a special friend to many wonderful people.”
These graves are guarded by a pair of Clark’s Nutcrackers. In the distance, to the west you can see the silhouette of Soapy Dale Peak, under the rise of the mountains beyond. The beauty of this spot is hard to describe. You can see about sixty miles to the east and west and you are surrounded by mountains and steep hillsides to the valley below. This is a plot worth visiting!
West of the mausoleum there is a cluster of sandstone boulders about twenty feet high. On the East face of one of the boulders there is an engraving: David Dickie G. O. M.
note: the Worland Grit lists:
David Dickie died 5 Jan, 1935 at Chicago, Illinois, buried at Thermopolis, Wyoming. James Dickie’s death on Monday, 20 Jan, 1936, buried at Dickie Ranch at Gooseberry, WY. The burial places listed in the newspaper are wrong.
Dave Dickie a Wyoming Pioneer Dies After A Continued Illness
Worland Grit, Worland Wyoming, January 10, 1935
“Funeral Services for David Dickie were held in Thermopolis yesterday afternoon, the body coming in on the train at noon. Services were held at 2 o’clock under the auspices of the Masonic Lodge. Mr. Dickey passed away at the Michael Reece Hospital in Chicago last Friday after a long illness at the time he was taking radium treatments in the hopes of getting relief.
David Dickie was born in Butshire, Scotland 73 years ago. When a young man he immigrated to New Zealand, and from there to Wyoming about 1890. He never married. Out of a family of six brothers and three sisters, only James and Hugh Dickie of Thermopolis survive. Today the body will be taken from Thermopolis to the Dickie Ranch and to the mausoleum Mr. Dickie had built for that purpose years ago. The mausoleum is located on top of a mountain overlooking the Grass Creek Valley, where Mr. Dickie spent so many happy years.
Coming to America without much money, Mr. Dickie worked sheep for others, then procured a brand of his own, and by hard work and especial zeal built up the big outfit known as the LU, one of the largest of its kinds in the state. Mr. Dickie was in the cattle business as well as the sheep business, bringing in the Aberdeen Black Angus cattle which were so easily told from the regular cattle on the prairies of Wyoming.
Mr. Dickie was well and favorably known among the stockmen over the state and especially in this part of Wyoming Among those attending the funeral held in Thermopolis yesterday, were C. H. Harkins, E. M. Conant, H. O. Bonine, Mr. and Mrs. Alex Healy, Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Ackenhousen, Miss Mary Culbertson, Mrs. Stine, Mrs. Ashby Howell, and Mrs. Bessie Dailey.”
David Dickie’s father’s name was James. He died in 25 Jan 1871 age 54 years. His mother’s name was Agnes Peebles. She died 3 Dec 1891 age 68 years. There were nine children as follows:
John 1854
William 1855-1921
James 1857-1936
Janet 1858
Jane 1860-1895
David 1861-1935
Daniel 1863-1930
Hugh 1865
Agnes 1868-1931
(family information supplied by Jennifer Dickie, Warkworth, New Zealand)
Mausoleum Photos
