Frank Chapel was born in Cincinnatus, New York,
June 14, 1873. His father was William Wallace Chapel and his mother
Alice G. Prichard Chapel. His family immigrated to this country in
1630 and settled in New London, Connecticut. Following the Revolutionary
War, Joshua Chapel moved to upstate New York and there are some relatives
still in the same area. William Wallace served in the Civil War as
part of the New York militia and then married Alice. They had four
children of whom Frank was the youngest. William Wallace moved his
family to Missouri but Alice stayed for only a short time then went back
to New York with her children. At age 15 Frank went to live with
his father who had been appointed postmaster of San Carlos, Gila county,
Arizona Territory on May 11, 1886. As postmaster, he was also the
post trader at Fort San Carlos. Frank met Tom Horn there and they
used to go hunting together. Gerronimo was on the reservation at
this same time and it was too dangerous to go out alone. Frank earned the life-long nickname of
Peanuts while participating in the Oklahoma land rush. He made a
claim on a section of land but ended up existing on the only food he had,
peanuts. He rode a buffalo in the St. Louis World's Fair. He
finally made his way to Wyoming where he hired out as a sheepherder.
He told of a problem with the local cattlemen who tied him and his partner
up, bent their pistols through the holes in the sheepwagon, and shot all
the sheep. These men later became his friends. When Elizabeth
met him he was tending bar at a saloon in Opal. At the time he liked
to drink whiskey, but when Elizabeth told him she didn't like that, he
never took another drink of hard liquor. Elizabeth Jenkins was born January 9, 1890,
at Rock Creek, Colorado. Her parents had both immigrated from Wales
but met and married in Pennsylvania. Her father was a coal miner
and they lived for a time in Youngstown, Ohio, then moved to Colorado then
finally Wyoming. Elizabeth grew up first in Cumberland then Diamondville.
She was among the oldest of ten children. Martha
(Bunty) Stevens and Charlotte Herschler were her sisters. Some
of her brothers moved to Rock Springs and Green River where their children
and grandchildren continue to live. She moved to Opal and cooked
in a hotel then met Frank. They were married July 26, 1910, in Green
River. Frank and Elizabeth moved to the Big Piney
area and took out a homestead south of town on the east side of Green River.
They then bought the Bucket of Blood, moved it and built the Big Piney
Hotel and Bar. In 1920 they sold it and bought a ranch northeast
of town on the Green River. They had four children but only one,
Dan, lived to maturity. Frank died April 14, 1942 at the ranch.
Dan had married Helen Lambert just three months before, and they took over
the ranch. Elizabeth built a home in Big Piney and lived there until
her death October 29, 1976.
(Photo courtesy of Dan Chapel)
Dan and Helen in front of the Episcopal Church in Jackson, Wyoming,
