Dora McGrath

Digging Up the Past

A Lady of the West and Mother of Thermopolis

It was 1899, the year of the Wilcox train robbery and nine years since Wyoming had become a state. Dora Thomas Barker had been living in Wyoming since she was 17 – a young mother following her husband to new territory twenty years before. As she made her way to this wild frontier, she would never have guessed that one day she would be the first woman senator of the state.

On this fateful night in late October 1899, a single shot rang out and Dora Thomas Barker was now a widow with four children. Her husband, a former deputy sheriff and foreman in the Glenrock mines, had been murdered. The only suspect, a well-respected blacksmith, was cleared of the crime and to this day, James Barker’s murder remains unsolved.

The young widow moved to Thermopolis, the home of her sister and her family. It was a county she knew well from previous visits and had often advocated for, especially with the healing mineral hot springs. She had once been quoted in the Big Horn River Pilot newspaper for her “brilliant” idea of

planting trees and creating lots for campers at the Hot Springs Reserve. Now once more among family and friends, Dora opened a boarding house to support her children and became an active member of society.

Higgins & McGrath General Merchandise Store at 5th St. & Broadway, early 1900’s. Dora McGrath with family & store employees. Son, Ralph Barker is third from right and husband, Martin McGrath stands at her side.

One year after losing her husband, tragedy once more struck. During the Christmas season in 1900, her sister Minnie and oldest daughter Nina both died from typhoid. Grief-stricken, Dora took in her two young nephews. Two years later, she married her brother-in-law, Martin McGrath, and began a new career as a buyer for the ladies’ furnishing department of the McGrath & Higgins Store. Both her sons worked as clerks and the family business flourished.

Her husband was influential in the founding of Thermopolis and in 1897, had been the president-director for the new townsite. Not only was Martin a successful business man but in 1901 was elected mayor and later led the town council. Like many businessmen of that day, he was wellacquainted with the local outlaw element and at the family store, checks were cashed to the likes of infamous outlaws such as Tom “Peeps” O’Day. Despite the remoteness of the new town, life in Thermopolis for Dora and her family were full of social events, parties, weekly club meetings, basketball games and travel for both business and pleasure.

In 1910, Martin bought the family a new 40 horse powered Inter-State automobile and the McGrath car quickly became a favorite sight in

Thermopolis. Even though, at first, they had a chauffeur, Dora was soon behind the wheel taking trips with the local ‘autoists’ to Billings, Yellowstone and Denver. It was noted on a joy ride to Billings that “they found plenty of road but not all of it in the best condition for a speedway.”

In May of 1916, Martin sold his merchandise and store to the Woods Brothers and began to develop his oil interests in earnest. Dora and her family wintered in Los Angeles that same year but their hearts remained in Thermopolis and they split their time between the two states. When World War I broke out, Dora, living in California, focused her time on the war effort. She visited the Wyoming “boys” in the army training camps, sending reports back to the anxious mothers which were then published in the local paper. When her son was gassed in combat, Dora mobilized her efforts. Now in her fifties, she was on her way to France to establish a convalescent home for veteran soldiers.

However, fate was to intervene. She had been feeling ill for some time, so just before she left for Europe, Dora visited the doctor. She was surprised to learn that she was to be a mother again and ended up naming her newborn daughter, Frances Lorraine, in honor of France. Dora was not to be daunted in her work and continued her war efforts. In September 1917, she organized the Mother’s League in Thermopolis, the only one of its kind in the world. Throughout the war, her various committees were devoted to supporting their boys and comforting the bereaved mothers who had lost sons. Dora continued her work after the end of the war, forming the American War Mothers in 1924. Even during peacetime, Dora remained a lifelong advocate of Hot Springs county servicemen and women. Fueled by her passion to build a veteran hospital in Thermopolis near the healing mineral hot springs, Dora ran for the legislature. In 1930, she became Wyoming’s first woman senator and held the position for four years. Her veteran’s bill, however, did not pass until she finally removed the requirement of the hospital being built in Thermopolis. With that stipulation gone, the bill passed and the veteran hospital was ultimately built in Cheyenne in 1934. Dora served two terms as a Wyoming Senator and continued her work with the soldiers. She also turned her attention to preserving the history of Hot Springs County.

In April 1929, Dora had organized the Hot Springs County Pioneer Association and remained as its president until her death in 1949 at the age of 80. During her tenure as President, Dora led the movement to build a historic museum and preserve important landmarks such as the Woodruff Cabin. In 1940, her dream was achieved and most of the artifacts the early pioneers donated remain on exhibit today including the Yellowstone Carriage. Dora McGrath may have slipped into the shadows and is not known to many today, but her legacy lives on in Thermopolis and Wyoming. The Veteran’s Hospital she fought for still serves our soldiers in Cheyenne and the museum she helped bring to reality has grown, now residing in a new location on Broadway.

Dora McGrath was truly a lady of the west and mother to Thermopolis!