A wobbly witnesses Cheyenne, Wyoming’s ‘Frontier Days’ celebration, still extant, and worries for the future of the human race.

‘Ignorance is Bliss, Etc.’ by Louis Morean from Industrial Worker. Vol. 3 No. 24. September 7, 1911.

IDIOTS CONGREGATE IN CHEYENNE BRONCO BUSTERS AND BUSTED LUNGS A FOOL’S PARADISE.

Last week Cheyenne, Wyo., had its yearly celebration, what is known as Frontiers Days (which could be called more accurately Fools Day), supposing to be held in commemoration of olden days, but really is another scheme to bring suckers here and separate them from their money, but this year the suckers didn’t come in as great numbers as before. I guess they are getting wise. During “Frontier” Week,” as it is called, the price of living doubles up and in cases quadruples. Everybody is on the watch for the “long green,” even some of the slaves tried to get some of it by selling ham and hamburger sandwiches, coffee and, or some other kind of junk. Poor suckers. They are now wiser; vain delusion once more shattered.

Frontiers’ days entertainments are made up of daring feats, such as bronco busting, wild horse races, cow pony races, lady’s and children’s pony races, steer roping, Indian war dances (by fierce looking savages that are more civilized than we are), military drills, furnished by Uncle Sam’s professional butchers, and the scab-herding state militia. The worst of it is that all fun and entertainment is furnished by the slave class and the bloated parasites get the gate receipts, of course.

Of course there are a few trinkets for prizes, but what are they compared to the amount of risks taken by the various contestants. This year a girl rider got her leg broken and a bronco buster got his lungs busted by a rebel bronco that fell backward on him. The bronco must have been reading some I.W.W. dope as he absolutely refused to let anyone ride on his back.

The most curious thing to see was to watch the antics of the crowd in the street. One had to pinch himself, or do some fierce thinking to figure out whether one wasn’t asleep and dreaming, or in a vast bughouse instead of being an ordinary human being on earth. Really, at times, I was ashamed to be a member of the human race on seeing some of the idiotic stunts of the people. Here you could see some one wearing a hat band with this inscription: “Out for a good time,” and likely the poor fellow didn’t have a square meal in weeks. Another wearing a tiny lamp on his coat lapel with his motto: “I am afraid to go home in the dark,” and perhaps the poor starved-out sucker would not know a home from a steamship. Others were covered with advertisements which they seemed proud of displaying free of charge, grown men and women tickling one another with feathers, slapping one another with pieces of heavy cardboard and making the most idiotic remarks one could think of.

Of course this frontier business, being well advertised, brought all kinds of people here, men and women with more money than brains, professional idlers looking for excitement, professional moochers, fakers, thugs, pick-pockets, tinhorn gamblers, pimps, prostitutes (males and females). Of course this gave a chance for few men to get a few days work on the police force, others that wanted a chance and did not get it done police work free of charge in hope to getting in next year (in other words scabbing on the stool pigeons), Well I must close. The more I think about it the more disgusted I am.

LOUIS MOREAN.

The Industrial Union Bulletin, and the Industrial Worker were newspapers published by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) from 1907 until 1913. First printed in Joliet, Illinois, IUB incorporated The Voice of Labor, the newspaper of the American Labor Union which had joined the IWW, and another IWW affiliate, International Metal Worker.The Trautmann-DeLeon faction issued its weekly from March 1907. Soon after, De Leon would be expelled and Trautmann would continue IUB until March 1909. It was edited by A. S. Edwards. 1909, production moved to Spokane, Washington and became The Industrial Worker, “the voice of revolutionary industrial unionism.”

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/industrialworker/iw/v3n24-w128-sep-07-1911-IW.pdf