How Dangerous Was a Night in a Wild West “Hell on Wheels”

In the summer of 1868, a town called Benton appeared out of nowhere on a white alkali flat in Wyoming Territory. It had about 3,000 people, 23 saloons, a 100-foot gambling tent with crystal chandeliers, and water that cost ten cents a bucket. By fall, it was gone. This is what one night was really like in a Wild West "Hell on Wheels" town, the rolling tent camps that followed the Union Pacific Railroad across the frontier. Step off the train at five, try to find a bed, walk into the Big Tent, and find out what happened in Benton when someone got shot after midnight. Then meet Perry Smith, the man who came to sell a hundred cows and never really left. If you'd stepped off that train in 1868, would you have bought the lot, or just the water? Tell me in the comments. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 A town that came by train 0:38 Your train gets in at five 1:51 Ten cents a bucket 3:19 Inside the Big Tent 4:54 A gunshot after midnight 6:38 The man who stayed 8:10 Benton today 8:53 Dawn in a Hell on Wheels town 📚 SOURCES Built from 1868 newspaper accounts (Frontier Index, Cincinnati Commercial, Arkansas True Democrat), Wyoming State Archives, the Carbon County Museum, and Mary Lou Pence & Lola M. Homsher, "The Ghost Towns of Wyoming." • Cowboy State Daily: Benton, Wyoming, 1868 • Library of Congress, Chronicling America: The Frontier Index • Utah State University Special Collections: The Big Tent, Benton 1868 • American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming: John and Frances Casement Papers #WildWest #HellOnWheels #WildWestHistory