A Cheyenne, Wyoming, man was tucking Christmas gifts out of sight when he found someone else’s hidden treasure. Tucked away in his house was a wallet dating to 1959, along with a handful of old keepsakes.
Decades after it vanished, he tracked down the owner’s daughters. According to Cowboy State Daily, they were thrilled to get it back on Wednesday, 20 years after their father’s death.
“Does Anyone Know George Monroe Long?” A Stranger Posts Clues On Facebook
J.R. Larsen had never heard of George Monroe Long when he made the discovery. But the hiding spot held a trail of clues.
There was an envelope addressed to George Monroe Long at 3352 Alexander Ave. There was an old Wyoming Gold bank card in Mrs. Long’s name, along with folded maps and a small stack of faded family photographs.
Four little girls stared out from those pictures, waiting for someone to recognize them. Larsen turned to the Cheyenne Community Connections Facebook page.
“Does anyone know George Monroe Long, born April 28, 1929, or any of his family members?” he posted. “I’d love to track down his relatives and get these pieces of family history back where they belong,” he wrote.
It did not take long before people started calling. By Wednesday evening, those girls, now grown women, had their father’s wallet back in their hands.
Seeing Dad’s Handwriting Again, Twenty Years After He Died
For the four sisters, seeing their father’s handwriting, photographs and belongings again was a wonderful surprise. Larsen’s discovery also opened a door to a childhood they have never forgotten.
Their father had jet-black hair that he slicked back, Elvis-style. He usually wore Levi’s 501s with a short-sleeved button-up shirt or a T-shirt, and he smoked Marlboros, which he often rolled into a sleeve.
He even had a wallet mark, said his daughter Janet, a permanent outline worn into his back pocket. His brother called him “Gorgeous George.”
His daughters remember a newspaper man, a pilot, a veteran, a Jeep tinkerer and a dad raising four girls with his wife, Arlene.
“We Moved In A Wheelbarrow, Basically” On The Same Street
The family moved from Kimball, Nebraska, to Cheyenne when the oldest daughter, Cindy, was about 4 or 5. They first rented on Pershing Boulevard before moving through a series of houses on the same street.
“We’ve actually lived on Alexander in four different homes,” Cindy said. “We moved in a wheelbarrow, basically, across the street, down the street. He worked three jobs, but the times that he was home, he always took time to be a father.”
That meant badminton and kickball, skateboards and tennis lessons. George cut his daughters’ hair himself, something the sisters can laugh about now when they look at the childhood photographs.
He Earned A Pilot’s License Before A Driver’s License
George earned his pilot’s license before his driver’s license, his daughters said, and he later taught people to fly. He took his girls along, sometimes flying from Cheyenne toward Pine Bluffs and landing on a dirt strip near their grandparents’ home near Egbert.
Years later, Cindy’s own children learned to listen for their grandpa’s plane approaching their home north of Cheyenne. The kids would climb onto the roof to watch as he came in low and put on a show overhead.
A Commendation From The Korean War Shows What He Never Bragged About
Long was a soldier before he was the dad driving four girls across the country. A Presidential Memorial Certificate honors George M. Long for his service in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Another surviving document is dated Oct. 23, 1952. It is a commendation from the 74th Engineer Combat Battalion recognizing the officers and men of Company A for their work preparing for an assault on “Snipers Ridge” during the Korean War.
His company was tasked with getting four tanks up the steep reverse slope of a mountain with 1,700 feet of elevation. They then had to prepare positions from which the tanks could fire on enemy forces.
They worked within 150 yards of enemy snipers and under what the commendation described as an “almost constant enemy artillery and mortar barrage.” The mission required “the highest degree of courage,” the commander wrote.
Like many veterans of his generation, George did not make much of what he had done overseas. To his daughters he was simply Dad, but when they opened the wallet, they found an old Army registration document too.
What To Do If You Find Someone Else’s Keepsakes
Larsen’s approach is a model for anyone who turns up an old wallet, letter or photo album in a house, attic or estate sale box. He read the clues, shared them publicly and asked for help.
- Look for names and addresses on envelopes, cards and papers. Larsen’s came from an envelope and a bank card.
- Post in a local community group. Neighbors often remember who lived where, and word travels fast.
- Share only what is needed to identify the family. Larsen listed a name and birth date and held back the rest.
- Be patient and keep photos safe. Faded pictures and papers last longer in a dry envelope than loose in a drawer.
The story is also a reminder for the rest of us. Those boxes of papers in your own closet may mean everything to someone down the line, so label photos and write names on the back while you still remember who is who.
For four sisters in Cheyenne, a small hidden wallet brought their dad’s handwriting, his service record and a whole childhood back in one evening.
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