Riding the stage

Friends of the Saratoga Library invite all interested persons to "hop aboard the stage coach rolling through the Upper North Platte River Valley" at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15, in the Saratoga Branch Library at 503 West Elm Ave. The program is open to the public free of charge.

"Driving the stage" is valley historian Dick Perue who will present an hour-long slide program entitled Riding the Stage and features views from aboard the stage as seen by a 16-year-old bride traveling to Saratoga by stagecoach.

Perue was inspired to write a pictorial history book and produce the video after interviewing Saratoga pioneer businesswoman Anna Paulson for a feature article in The Saratoga Sun. in the 1960s. Anna was the young bride who related to Perue the many scenes she witnessed while atop the stage.

The slide show features more than 100 images a passenger would see on a stage ride in the early 1900s from Walcott Junction south to Pearl, Colo., with descriptions of Valley ranches, folks, towns, animals, scenes and events.

Perue is the former editor, publisher, janitor, reporter, photographer, printer, paperboy and owner of The Saratoga Sun. While with the paper it was twice named the top weekly in Wyoming. In recognition of his contributions to the newspaper industry, he has been inducted into the Wyoming Newspaper Hall of Fame.

He now spends his time working to "preserve local history one picture at a time" through a non-profit business called Historical Reproductions by Perue. He also writes a weekly column-Postcard from the Past-for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and continues to sort through boxes of historical information, negatives and photographs in the Bob Martin/Dick Perue collection.

A passion for local history prompted Perue to help establish both the Saratoga and Grand Encampment Museums. He has compiled several books on local history and published dozens of pamphlets of historic events in this area as well as producing and showing numerous videos.