Beschrijving

Cheyenne, Wyoming, was a boomtown during WWII. In 1941, a Quartermaster Replacement Training Center was built at Fort Francis E. Warren, west of Cheyenne, to train thousands of soldiers. The two military installations brought millions of dollars into the Capital City. Like other military communities, Cheyenne saw an increase in vice during the war. Gambling became widespread, as did prostitution and the illegal sale of alcohol.The Fourth Regiment, based at the Quartermaster Replacement Training Center, was African American. Cheyenne had a small population of Black citizens, most of whom lived on the city’s West Side. Soldiers in the Fourth Regiment often visited the clubs and restaurants in that part of town. Only two months after taking office in 1944, the newly elected mayor, Ira Hanna, along with the chief of police, a captain, and a sergeant, began demanding that African American club owners offer gambling and prostitution and pay \