History
The Beginning - P.C. Christian - 1895
John Bunning Transfer Company was started in 1895 by the late Peter Christian Bunning. At that time, it was known as P.C. Bunning Express and Transfer. P.C. Bunning had migrated to the United States from Denmark in late 1887, leaving his wife and infant son, John Theodore Bunning behind until such time as he could save enough money to bring them to this country.
He first settled in Omaha, Nebraska where he had some relatives who worked for the railroad and through them he was able to get a job with the same company. He later moved west to Rawlings, Wyoming and finally to Rock Springs. After being in Rock Springs for about a year, he was able to save enough money to pay for the passage of his wife and son to bring them to this country.
For a short time, P.C. "Chris" Bunning worked in the coal mines in Rock Springs until he found a job with the town of Rock Springs as a night policeman checking the doors of the various business establishments to be certain that they were locked and safe from intruders. After a short time on the job, he noted that most of the passenger trains came through the town in the middle of the night and there was no transportation service available to haul the luggage and other belongings of the people who got off the train from the station of the hotel, boarding house or their residence. Accordingly he saved enough money and purchased a horse and a small wagon and performed the service for the people. Finally the transportation business increased to a full time job so he resigned from the police department. Chris Bunning's business expanded so he purchased a team of horses and a larger "dray" wagon and in addition to hauling the people's personal belongings he hauled merchandise from the railroad freight depot to the merchants in town and also moved household goods from one residence to another for anyone who wanted this service. A few years later he branched out into the construction business grading streets and laying concrete sidewalks in Rock Springs. During this period he purchased the first mechanical cement mixer in the area which was powered by a steam engine from steam generated by a boiler attached to the mixer.
His first major contract was the laying of a sewer line from the Miners Hospital, located at the top of the hill at the south end of what is now known as "C" street, to bitter creek which ran through the center of town. Another large project which he did was construct the first graded road between Rock Springs and Green River. He also built the first ditch to carry irrigation water from Fremont Lake in Sublette County to the ranches east and south of the town of Pinedale, Wyoming.
John Theodore Bunning - 1914
In 1914, P.C. Bunning sold the transportation business to John Theodore Bunning, his oldest son and he changed the name of the company to John Bunning Express and Transfer.
In the early 1920's, John Bunning purchased his first truck, a used white Model "30" from Ohio Oil Company who moved into the area to explore for oil and gas. A few months later he purchased another truck from the same company. He did a considerable amount of work for the Ohio Oil Company through their superintendent who had become a close friend by the name of "Uncle Jack" McFadden. (The town of McFadden Wyoming was named after him). This was the beginning of the company's oilfield operations which have continued over the years to the present time.
Another one of the seasonal operations in which John Bunning engaged was the harvesting of ice from the Green River in the town by the same name. He and his crew sawed the ice into large blocks, loaded them on wagons or trucks, hauled them to the rail yard, transloaded them into railcars and shipped them via rail to Rock Springs. The ice was stored in various establishments. The Miners Hospital, Wyoming Beverage Company, as well as in his own ice house. The ice stored in his house was then sold during the summer months to various restaurants and residents.
Christian Peter Bunning - 1952
John T. Bunning died in 1952 at which time his eldest son, Christian P. Bunning assumed control of the company. In 1957 the name of the company was changed to the John Bunning Transfer Company and became incorporated in the State of Wyoming. Over the years, Bunning Transfer Co. changed from a local cartage company to an over-the-road carrier handling primarily truck load shipments. However at one time during the days of the I.C.C. regulations they maintained a regular route less than truck load service to all the various mines within a fifty mile radius of Rock Springs. Supplies from local merchants as well as freight brought in by line-haul carriers was transferred to Bunning trucks and delivered to its final destination. In addition to the general commodity authority John Bunning Transfer Co., Inc. also held I.C.C. authority to haul oil field supplies and equipment, telephone equipment, heavy construction equipment and household goods between points and places primarily in the Rocky Mountain States. The household goods authority was later sold to Wheaton Van Lines.
Since the early 1940's, Bunning Transfer has offered a complete service to the oil industry, grading locations and access roads, rig moving, pipeline construction and transportation of finished product (crude oil) from the wells to the pipeline terminals, as well as moving gasoline, diesel fuel and lubricants. Over the years, John Bunning Transfer Co., Inc. had the distinction of having many local "firsts" in the transportation industry; moving the first cable tool rig into what was known as the Baxter Basin. Unloading from railcars in Rock Springs and moving the first rotary drilling rig on the top of Aspen Mountain south of Rock Springs. The company also hauled all of the supplies for the drilling of wells, the fuel, water, mud, casing and anything else that was needed. In 1961, Bunning assisted in building the rail line that connected the now abandoned U.S. Steel mine and mill at South Pass to the mainline, to the Union Pacific in Rock Springs. They also hauled the first cranes used in the construction of the mill.
John Bunning Transfer Co., Inc. also met the transportation needs of the new trona mining industry located in western Sweetwater County. The company continues to offer all of the mines flexible, dependable and economic transportation services not only serving their local needs, but helping to move their products to customers throughout the United States.
A few of the jobs which John Bunning Transfer was called upon to do were the movement of the cables that were used for the tram at Jackson Hole Ski Corp., from Green River, Wyoming to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Each spool of cable weighed 30 tons and each carried 5,000 feet of cable. The movement of a compressor from the rail at Opal, Wyoming to the compressor station near Big Piney, Wyoming for Pacific Northwest Pipeline Co. The compressor weighed 130,000 pounds and at the time was the heaviest load ever moved over the highways of Wyoming. The hauling and distribution of the cable, for the first underground telephone system, from the east coast to the west coast of the United States. John Bunning Transfer handled all of the cable from the east boundary of Wyoming to central Nevada and from eastern Wyoming to Denver, Colorado for the American Telephone and Telegraph Co.
Chris N. Bunning - 1972
After attending the Parks School of Business in Denver, Colorado, Christian's son Chris returned to Rock Springs in January 1972 and went to work for John Bunning Transfer Co., Inc. as a fourth generation family member. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the company in 1973 and has served as President and CEO since 1995. He has been very active in industry related associations where he has served on a number of Boards. He was on the Executive Committee of the Oilfield Haulers Association from 1974 to 1980 and a member of the Board of Directors of the Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Association from 1995 to 1997 where he served as Chairman of the Transportation Committee.
Chris remains active in many organizations today serving on the Board of Directors of the American Trucking Association, past President of the Wyoming Trucking Association, Board of Directors of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, and board member and Executive Vice President of Red Horse Oil Co., Inc.
Under Chris' leadership and thanks to superior service to such companies as The Jim Bridger Power Plant, Simplot, Solvay, British Petroleum, Questar, Anadarko, Encana, Ultra Petrolium, and the mines and plants in this area, John Bunning Transfer Co., Inc. is poised to enter it's second century as one of the most trusted and successful regional carriers in the western United States.