Creator Record
Metadata
Name |
Jones, Edward "Phonograph" |
Other names |
Jonesey |
Notes |
"Phonograph" Jones was born in Nebraska in 1873, and at the age of fourteen moved with his parents to Oregon. He worked as a mess boy on the early steamboats that operated on the Columbia and Willamette rivers. His skill in cooking earned him a promotion to chief cook, a position he held for three years. He moved on to other cooking jobs in the West, including a three-year stint as cook for the construction crew of the Canyon Hotel in Yellowstone. Jones's travels took him to Cody in 1911, where a chance meeting with Buffalo Bill brought him an offer of a job at the showman's TE Ranch on the South Fork. The five years he spent there were interspersed with cooking assignments on hunting trips with Joe Jones of the Majo Ranch. After the death of Buffalo Bill in 1917, Jones left the TE Ranch for the Valley Ranch, where he would cook for the next twenty-five years. After ten years of cooking for the boys' and girls' pack trips, it was estimated that he had served 77,000 meals from his chuck wagon. In recognition of this service Larom presented him with a handsome silver bit. Jones was married in 1922 and raised three children. After he left Valley Ranch he continued to cook for various ranches and also to guide hunting parties. For twenty-five years Jones was the official Cody Country Santa Claus, arriving in downtown Cody each Christmas season by fire truck or helicopter to entertain hundreds of children. Jones died in Cody in June 1967 at the age of 93. The Billings Gazette, 12 January 1964, p. 8; CEy 13 February 1964; 29 June 1967, p. 2. "Dude Ranching in Yellowstone Country", W. Hudson Kensel, p.109 |
