Paul Stock’s Legacy: More Than a Name on Buildings

We see his name throughout the town. The Paul Stock Aquatic and Recreation Center. The Paul Stock Nature Trail. The Paul Stock Memorial Park. The Paul Stock House. But who was Paul Stock, and why are so many things named after him?

After a town is founded, there are often supporters or sustainers, and Cody has had many over the years. We still have those who lend a hand to the community today. Paul Stock was one of the strongest supporters whose tremendous generosity gave so much to Cody. In fact, many would argue that while Buffalo Bill founded the town, it was Paul Stock who helped it grow and put it on the map.

An Oilman

Paul Stock was an oilman who grew up in the industry and made his fortune from it. Born in Colorado in 1894 to a family already steeped in the oil business. His great-grandfather worked with Colonel Drake in Pennsylvania, where the first oil well in the country was drilled. His father brought in the first producing oil well in Colorado near the town of Florence. He received little formal education, finishing seventh grade while growing up in Colorado, but learned much in the “University of Life.” At 15 years old, he began working as a roughneck, working in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Montana, Mexico, and even as far as Havana, Cuba. But he came back to the Wyoming to help his father bring in the first oil well in Wyoming at the Salt Creek Field near Casper.

His interest in developing the Oregon Basin and the Byron-Garland fields brought him to Cody in 1923. He continued to work his way up the ladder and eventually served as president of the Uinta Gas Co. in Vernal, Utah, in 1930, and of the Stock Oil Co. in 1932. In 1934, he was president of Yale Petroleum, which eventually merged with the Texas Company in 1944. The merger made him the primary stockholder of Texaco.

Home Life

During 1945 and 1946, he and his second wife, Bertha, built The Stock House in Cody on a bluff, with sweeping views of the region’s mountains. From the property, he could see the oil refinery near the railroad tracks outside of town. He outfitted the walk-out basement with a bar and party room, and also housed his office. With an outside entrance and shower in the office, he could clean up quickly when coming in from the oil field. The privately owned Spanish-style mansion, considered an abomination while under construction, is on the historic register and considered now to be one of the most lovely historic homes in town.

The Stock House many years ago

Paul Stock married three times. The first marriage was in 1917 to Genevieve Dragoo, described as a real business partner as well as a wife. She died of pneumonia in 1930. He then married Bertha Larsen in 1931, and she died in 1948 after a long illness. In 1955, he married Eloise Jenson, who outlived Paul.

Paul also purchased land in the area for cattle production. He owned the Trail Creek Ranch from 1951 until he sold it in 1965 to Nielson Enterprises, fellow oilmen who owned Husky Oil in Cody.

Civic Servant

From 1940 to 1948, Paul Stock served three terms as the Mayor of Cody during a period of rapid town expansion. Not wanting to be a “Roosevelt democrat,” he did not run for a term, so Doc Howe served as Mayor between Paul’s second and third terms. He also served as a director of the W.R. Coe Memorial Hospital for many years, as well as on other boards.

Glenn Nielson of Husky Oil presented Paul Stock with the Cody Club Citizen of the Week award in 1965. In his speech, printed in the Cody Enterprise on Aug 5, 1965, Glenn said, “I believe Paul spends the great majority of his time thinking of projects and actions that should be fostered for the benefit of others. His thinking ranges from helping various individuals to city, county, state, and federal projects. In all the years I have known Paul, I don’t believe I have ever talked with him for more than ten or fifteen minutes that he didn’t suggest something that should be done for the benefit of others. What is more, his projects always have merit.”

Dinner Party Guests Pictured: Ed Heald, Gladys Way, William Sanzenbacher, Mrs. Ed Heald, Paul and Eloise Stock, Frosty Fogg, Scotty Edmonds, Dorothy Fogg, A.C. Newton, Dorthea Sanzenbacher (back to camera)

Paul Stock gave much to this town. He gave a gift to the school and the city of over $100,000 in 1967 (the value of nearly one million dollars today) for land for the high school football field, City Park, and the site of the current Chamber office. If that wasn’t enough, he also gave $45,000 to build restrooms and the band shell in City Park, which we still enjoy as a community today. In addition, he built housing for nurses and doctors working at the hospital and built the Buffalo Bill Boy Scout camp on the North Fork. He also gave generously to the Yellowstone Boys Ranch near Billings, purchasing some 80 acres along Canyon Creek. He also gifted 400 shares of major oil stock to two Cody churches to build new chapels. Another known contribution was to the Gottsche Rehabilitation Center in Thermopolis.

Sustainer of Cody

While Paul had a heart for community and the deep pockets to help support it in ways most cannot, as he got older, he wanted to be able to give even after he was gone. According to the author’s grandmother, this was his motivation for starting the Stock Foundation. He wanted to create a true legacy for the town by establishing scholarships. Being close friends with Paul Stock, Donald Jones (the author’s grandfather), helped him set up and run the foundation. Beginning in 1958, Jackson King, Donald Jones, and Oliver Steadman were the first directors.

In the late 1990s, the Stock Foundation paid for a significant portion of the construction of the Paul Stock Aquatic and Recreation Center, with other City fundraising efforts covering the rest. Recently, the Foundation funded the addition of the pickleball courts at the rec center.

Cody certainly wouldn’t be the same town today had Paul Stock not lived here. Paul Stock died in 1972, but his legacy continues today, not only through the Foundation but also in the lasting core value he left: giving. His outrageous generosity inspired others to be generous. It could be argued that he helped to cement Cody’s community value of giving in that helps make it the delightful place we enjoy today.

The Stock House as it is today

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