In 1929 my dad went to work for Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He apprenticed with their formidable senior installer, who had worked for Alexander Graham Bell to install Cheyenne's first telephone system in 1881. This photo was taken in 1930 in the the Cheyenne company yard, and my dad is third from the left, aged 21. He stayed with Bell for 28 years, as an installer and lineman in Cheyenne and Casper, and, after the war, in San Diego. Linemen in the Rockies had hard lives. Dad told of having to dig down as much as 30 feet in the snowdrifts to free the phone lines south of Casper during blizzards, lines that were at the top of 70-foot poles. View full size.
In 1929 my dad went to work for Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He apprenticed with their formidable senior installer, who had worked for Alexander Graham Bell to install Cheyenne's first telephone system in 1881. This photo was taken in 1930 in the the Cheyenne company yard, and my dad is third from the left, aged 21. He stayed with Bell for 28 years, as an installer and lineman in Cheyenne and Casper, and, after the war, in San Diego. Linemen in the Rockies had hard lives. Dad told of having to dig down as much as 30 feet in the snowdrifts to free the phone lines south of Casper during blizzards, lines that were at the top of 70-foot poles. | Click image for Comments. | Home | Browse All Photos