Hell’s Half Acre

That Demon claiming this half-acre

Possessed a mind both lithe and active.

He well knew how, were he the maker

To make its weirdness quite attractive.

Those gray-green slopes invite your sliding

Down to see what’s that queer shape,

That seems to be a gnome a-riding

Upon a surface once a lake.

There’s no lake there, the water frightened,

Fled through a gateway deep and wide.

For fire-fiends roared and glowered and tightened

Their hold, and fought on every side.

Great rocks seem to have been their weapons

As angry their emotions spent,

Themselves to grind to flakes and atoms

Old Mother Earth her bosom rent.

A feeling somehow quite uncanny

Creeps o’er you as you stand and gaze

At shades and colors, oh, how many,

That leave your thoughts all in a maze.

Pray do not miss it, for its beauty

Will stay with you for many a day,

Forsake a little work and duty

To learn a bit from gnome and fray.

– Elizabeth Binns Moreland

While looking through a Christmas present from a friend, who also is possessed with history and historical photographs, I discovered the above poem and accompanying photo. The gift was a 1938 magazine aptly called “Wonderful Wyoming,” published by Wyoming Department of Commerce and Industry with Charles B. Stafford as editor.

In the forward Gov. Leslie A. Miller writes, “This tabloid is designed to briefly picture the scenic beauty spots, unusual attractions, recreational opportunities and outdoor life resources of our state.”