John B. Kendrick

John B. Kendrick
United States Senator from Wyoming
In office March 4, 1917 – November 3, 1933
Preceded by	Clarence D. Clark
Succeeded by	Joseph C. O'Mahoney
9th Governor of Wyoming
In office January 4, 1915 – February 26, 1917
Preceded by	Joseph M. Carey
Succeeded by	Frank L. Houx
Member of the Wyoming State Senate
In office 1910-1914
Personal details
Born	(1857-09-06)September 6, 1857 Rusk, Texas
Died	Sheridan, Wyoming
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Eula Wulfjen
Children	Rosa-Maye Kendrick Manville Kendrick
Profession	Politician, Rancher
Religion	Methodist

John Benjamin Kendrick (September 6, 1857 – November 3, 1933) was an American politician and cattleman. He served as a United States Senator from Wyoming and as the ninth Governor of Wyoming.

Early life

Kendrick was born near Rusk, Texas to John Harvey Kendrick and Anna (Maye) Kendrick. He grew up on a ranch and attended the public schools in Texas until he was in the seventh grade. In March, 1879 he moved cattle from Texas to Wyoming (1,500 miles). He arrived in Wyoming in August, 1879 and settled on a ranch near Sheridan, where he raised cattle as a cowboy, ranch foreman, and later cattle company owner. He married Eula Wulfjen (his employer's daughter) on January 20, 1891.

Kendrick worked as foreman for his father-in-law's cattle company from 1879 until 1883. He was employed by (and invested in ownership positions in) the Lance Creek Cattle Company (1885), the Converse Cattle Company (1887, owner in 1897). Kendrick was also President of the First National Bank of Sheridan from 1900 to 1902.

A $10 National Bank Note, Series 1882 Brown Back, from the First National Bank of Sheridan, WY with the hand-signed signature of John B. Kendrick.

Career

In 1909 he was elected President of the Wyoming Stock Growers. He was a member of the Wyoming State Senate from 1910 to 1914 and was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1913. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Wyoming in 1916 and 1924.

He then served as Governor of Wyoming from 1915 until he resigned in 1917, having been elected as a Democratic candidate to the United States Senate in 1916. Kendrick was reelected to the Senate in 1922 and 1928 and served from March 4, 1917, until his death at Sheridan, Wyoming, in 1933. In 1932 he received an honorary law degree from the University of Wyoming.

He served as chairman of the Committee on Canadian Relations (Sixty-fifth Congress) and member of the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys (Seventy-third Congress). He was credited with beginning the investigations into the Teapot Dome scandal, a bribery incident that took place from 1922 until 1923. He introduced legislation that helped create the Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming.

Death and legacy

He died on November 3, 1933. Kendrick is interred in Mount Hope Cemetery in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Trail End, completed in 1913, is located in Sheridan, Wyoming. Known locally as the Kendrick Mansion, it was the home of John B. Kendrick and his family. It is now a house museum operated by the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources

Kendrick was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1958.

Further reading

• Georgen, Cynde. In the shadow of the Bighorns: A history of early Sheridan and the Goose Creek valley of northern Wyoming. Sheridan, Wyoming: Sheridan County Historical Society, 2010. ISBN 978-0-9792871-7-6
• Georgen, Cynde A. One cowboy's dream: John B. Kendrick, his family, home, and ranching empire. 2nd edition, revised. Virginia Beach, Virginia: The Donning Company Publishers, 2004. ISBN 1-57864-239-6

Culture

The following children's book, classified as historical fiction, is loosely based on the life of John B. Kendrick:
Garst, Shannon and Warren Garst. Cowboys and Cattle Trails. The American Adventure Series. Edited by Emmett A. Betts. Chicago: Wheeler Publishing Company, 1948.
This book has been revised by Patsy Parkin and reprinted as A Real Top Hand: John Benjamin Kendrick. Wheatland, Wyoming: Spirit Quest Press, 2011. Parkin is careful to point out that the book remains historical fiction.

External links

• Bartlett, Ichabod S. (1918). History of Wyoming. Chicago, IL, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company. [1]
• Peterson, C.S. (1915). Men of Wyoming. Denver, CO, C.S. Peterson Publisher. [2]
• Trail End State Historic Site (Kendrick Mansion)
• John Benjamin Kendrick at Find a Grave
• The Political Graveyard: John Benjamin Kendrick (1857-1933)
• Govtrack.us: Sen. John Kendrick
• National Governors Association
• NNDB: John Benjamin Kendrick

Political offices
Preceded by Joseph M. Carey	Governor of Wyoming January 4, 1915 – February 26, 1917	Succeeded by Frank L. Houx
United States Senate
Preceded by Clarence D. Clark	U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Wyoming 1917–1933	Succeeded by Joseph C. O'Mahoney