Bear River City, Wyoming

A businessman from Salt Lake City named Joseph F. Nounnan was contracted to construct the Union Pacific railroad grade in the area where it crossed the Bear River in southwestern Wyoming, then the Utah Territory.

He constructed a supply depot and lodging for his men on a site along the route of the Overland Stage as well as the path of the California and Mormon emigrant trails.

The town served as a passover for miners, railroad workers, and hunters heading farther into the west.

The "Bear River City Riot" of November 19, 1868 began following the vigilante lynching of a murder suspect who worked for the railroad.

Smith stood his ground, but was unable to stop the onslaught of several hundred rioters, with the end result being sixteen people killed.