Serving all of Eastern Laramie County since 1908
Serving all of Eastern Laramie County since 1908
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Besides ending the Civil War, freeing the slaves and launching a national railway, President Abraham Lincoln also thought it important to have a designated highway crossing the country from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. And although Wyoming would not become a state for another 25 years, that road has crossed from one of our borders to the other for the past 151 years. From the 1860s to the 1930s, it was often known simply as “Lincoln’s Road.” The highway did not handle autom...
By definition, the term “bucket list” stands for those places you want to visit or those things you want to do before you die. For some time now, I have been publishing my own version of this list and have gradually been checking a few off my list. And yet, there are so many other places to see and my list seems to be getting longer rather than shorter. For example a dinosaur dig or a buffalo jump have zoomed to near the top of my list. Our family has never been to either and Wyoming has som...
Should women work in coal mines? Should there be a severance tax on coal? Should you be literate in order to vote? Should women be allowed to vote? Should the state own rights to all the water? How many people do you need to become a state? Those were six of the vexing questions that befuddled early members of the Wyoming State Convention who were preparing Wyoming to be voted on to become a state by the U. S. Congress in 1890. That was 124 years ago this month. Each year the Wyoming...
Mother Nature can take on some ornery appearances across America this time of year – even here in Wyoming. Although tornadoes are rare in the Cowboy State, dust devils and waterspouts are quite common. Recently an amazing image of a waterspout was photographed by weather spotter Kathy Milton Raper along the Green River Lakes in Sublette County at 7,782 feet above sea level. The National Weather Service staff went to the archives and was unable to ever ascertain a report of anything like this a...
This is the time of year when our Wyoming political world truly becomes the crazy season. Between parades, celebrations and backyard meet-and-greets, the folks competing for political office find themselves on the dead run. It is already July and the primary is toward the end of August. Most candidates have been working on this since last fall so it is truly crunch time. So, with that introduction, let’s take a look at a couple of interesting races here in the Cowboy State. Most observers w...
During a recent road trip through nine states, I stumbled onto an interesting factoid: the longest highway in America bisects Wyoming. It is Historic US 20, which is 3,365 miles in length. We drove on that road a lot during our trip and it was well worth it. In Wyoming, the highway enters the state east of Lusk on a truly crappy stretch of highway and continues to Orin Junction where it joins I-25 and then heads north to Douglas and Glenrock. It continues to Casper and then heads west to...
True recollections of Wyoming history involving such things as wolf roundups and recollections of historical figures like Gen. George Armstrong Custer and Sacajawea come alive in a uniquely historical book, whose story of how it came into being is almost as interesting as the stories it tells. Wind River Adventures by Edward J. Farlow is an amazing book that details the early history of Wyoming. It features some of the more amazing characters in our state’s history. And the stories Farlow w...
Morning people have always impressed me. For some time now, it has been my desire to reinvent myself as a lark, rather than an owl. These two birds pretty much represent those two unique kinds of people – the morning person and the night owl. A few years ago, I discovered how beautiful it could be early in the morning and I now delight in being up at an early hour. Let me tell you about a recent morning. Maybe it was a sudden gust of wind or a deer bumping into one of Nancy’s bird feeders, but...
If you like tourism like I do, then it is easy to appreciate what Yellowstone National Park means to Wyoming. Some 3 million folks come to the world’s first national park each year. Almost a third of them are international tourists. This reality came to me when a young Asian woman sat next to me recently on a flight from New Orleans to Denver. It was hard for me to determine if she was American or one of those international tourists. It was also hard to figure out how old she was and what she wa...
World War II was an extraordinary time in Wyoming with over 10 percent of the state’s population involved in fighting that war. Over 1,000 died. The war cry, “Powder River, let’r buck” was heard from Europe to Asia as Wyoming’s finest young men and women risked their lives. This exclamation was first heard in 1898 when Wyoming reportedly exceeded every other state’s quotas for providing soldiers in the Spanish-American War. All over our state you can find impressive memorials to these brave...
This summer I will attend my 50th high school graduation reunion. As someone that old, what on earth could I possibly tell a crowd of Wyoming high school or college graduates during their important time? This is my annual column is pretty much what my speech would be if asked to speak at a high school graduation. Giving that speech is a lot of fun and I look forward to doing it. Here are some of my thoughts for graduates: Is it possible that many of the great truths that you graduates have come...
At a recent meeting of the Lander Planning Commission, of which I have been a member for years, it was mentioned that we would soon be deciding on the addition of yet another “storage” facility on the east edge of our town. To which, one of our members exclaimed: “What on earth do we need another storage facility for? The town is full of them!” And not just Lander. Every city and town in Wyoming is stocked to capacity with those ubiquitous steel facilities known as storage units. When I related...
Wyoming folks are not shy about talking about their favorite places in our home state. And I am going to take that habit to an extreme in my next book, which will include photos and stories of 101 of Wyoming’s favorite places. So this is your chance to let me know what you think are the most fascinating and unique places in the Cowboy State. Send me your nomination in 12 words up to 600 words and maybe we can squeeze it into the book. This new book will be out this fall and will be similar in f...
During a long winter of road closures, sub-zero temperatures and ample snowfall, there was a long list of interesting news happenings that involved rock bands, billionaires and tragedy in the Cowboy State. • One of the most popular rock bands in the country will NOT be staging a concert at Devils Tower. Daft Punk, which includes two members from France who are dressed as robots, had planned to put lasers at the base of the tower and hold a concert for 50,000 people. The National Park Service r...
An energy development concept that seemed to fit Wyoming when first proposed 40 years ago has recently been back in the news. This idea was to establish “energy reservations” in various isolated parts of the country. And no place in the USA has the vast amounts of energy that Wyoming has. And as the least populated state in the country, we must admit we have some isolated places, too. As I recall, the concept involved grouping power plants, nuclear plants, refineries and other ene...
One of the great things about the whole concept of the United States of America is that it is a fantastic melting pot of people of different nationalities, colors and creeds all coming together to form a nation of 50 different and diverse states. One of those states, Wyoming, is not much of a melting pot in most sections of the state. Along with North Dakota, our state is one of few states in the country that is almost entirely Caucasian. Very few African-Americans and very few...
The first time I heard the Wyoming term “mud season” it conjured up images of the sloppy dirt roads that I had to drive on growing up in the Midwest far country a long time ago. But here in the Cowboy State, mud season means the sloppy mess you get when snow and ice freezes and the sun comes out and warms it all up. Then it melts and freezes again and warms up and then melts again for what seems like an eternity. Some places are more muddy than others. It would seem that Cheyenne and Lar... Full story
Last October, I was shopping at a store in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, when my cell phone rang. I answered it. “This is Caitlin Keating of People Magazine. I . . .” “No, I don’t want any,” I said, and hung up. Our family had been bombarded lately by telemarketers and my wife had just renewed her People subscription through a school program for our grandson Braley Hollins’ band. So, no thanks. We do not need another subscription. The phone rang immediately again. This was odd. Usually they aren’t... Full story
Ever since most of Wyoming got pelted with that first snowstorm in September, I have been itching to get to a warmer climate. On Dec. 30, we climbed into our nine-year old motorhome (aptly named FollowMyNose) and started our slog southward. We earlier got eight inches of new snow. South Pass reports kept claiming chains were required and heavy fog was making traveling dangerous. In other words, be careful. And in additional other words, do not attempt crossing this mountain pass in a 55-foot... Full story
As 2013 winds down, it makes sense to look back at what kind of items were featured in this statewide column. Funniest item I wrote about in 2013 was the California woman calling the Fremont County Sheriff's office and complaining about how much cleavage was being shown by their female deputies. Since Sheriff Skip Hornecker has only one female deputy patrolman, this was a big mystery until it was determined the gal had been watching the TV show Longmire. The female lead on that show is blond... Full story
There are many groups of people in Wyoming who could use a little nudge of assistance at this time of year. Two types that come to mind are the under-employed and the unemployed. The former are the folks who serve us our food at the neighborhood restaurant or the guy or gal at the counter of the local convenience store or working at a myriad of odd jobs all around us. The dispositions of these folks are amazing. In the face of daunting financial difficulties, they still go to work and they keep everything going. Modern-day Christmas is... Full story
"Books and booze," is how one of my coffee buddies answered, when I asked his ideas for the perfect Wyoming-oriented Christmas gifts. He had been giving out bottles of Wyoming Whiskey and Koltiska liqueurs over the past years plus he bought six of my Wyoming's 7 Greatest Natural Wonders books and a bunch of Chuck Box and Craig Johnson western potboilers. It is hard for me to argue with his selections, but this column is my annual attempt to compile a list of wonderful Wyoming-oriented books...
Just about everybody who was alive in America in the last 40 years can remember a pivotal life event that occurred on Nov 22, a half century ago. Where were you when President John Kennedy was killed? My story is somewhat unique and so are many others. Clay James of Jackson was in the Marines. His officers armed him and the rest of the soldiers with wooden rifles and sent them to the coastline. They thought the Russians might be invading us. This was in the height of the Cold War. Such an event...
Having breakfast with Liz Cheney recently and listening to her at our Rotary Club got me thinking about this unprecedented Republican U. S. Senate primary race going on in Wyoming. Cheney and three-term senior Sen. Mike Enzi have raised over two million dollars and the primary election is not until August 2014. Amazing. This race got me thinking about a movie. Watching the Coen Brothers motion picture, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, brings to mind some great lines in connection with the race...
The boys down at the coffee shop were in a grumpy mood earlier on this day. They had just endured their fourth heavy wet snowstorm. And it was just Oct. 28! As I write this, I am looking out my window at my poor trees, once again, leaning over almost to the ground. Their leaves covered with frozen snow and many more limbs broken. Our coffee bunch, also known as The Fox News All-Stars, can be surly. You will hear these guys complaining just about everything. Lately the complaints have been...
