Opal Ray
(Photo from Wyoming's Own, p.211)
Opal and her family moved to Wyoming from drought-striken Kansas
in January of 1912 at the urging of agents from the Uinta
County Irrigation Project. Her father, Ira Hakes, worked
in the mines near Kemmerer that winter, then moved his family to Marbleton
in March. At that time Charlie
Budd was trying to promote the building of Marbleton and there was
a lot of activity in the area mainly due to the irrigation project on Muddy.
Opal's parents bought a two-room log cabin and her mother started
a boarding house where as many as 30 men would eat at one time on a long
table covered with oil cloth. The walls were covered with newspapers
and the floor was rough pine boards. She was also postmistress and
this was done in one corner of the living room. She managed the Marbleton
Hotel when it was built in 1913 for a short time then went back to her
log cabin and started a chili parlor where she served chili and pie.
Her father fenced his homestead on Muddy but, instead of building a house
there, began hauling freight from Opal.
Source: Wyoming's Own, p. 197-210