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Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Daily Cartoon: Monday, August 30, 2021 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Cartoon: Monday, August 30, 2021

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's business and tourism reporter, Renée Jean

Renée Jean

Business

The cornerstone of a western fashion empire rising in Saratoga wasn’t a bright idea. It was a problem — a whole series of them, in fact, starting with a beautiful belt that wouldn’t fit.

From a 150-square-foot spare bedroom to two warehouses and a patented D-ring system, Dixie and Kirby Berger have built their company, Pure Dixie, into an international western fashion brand and a favorite at some of the largest rodeos in the nation, from Cheyenne Frontier Days to the National Finals Rodeo.

They did it not by avoiding mistakes but by stubbornly working through them, one bad belt and one busted box of inventory at a time. 

The bad belt was a beaded strip that caught Dixie’s eye during Cheyenne Frontier Days a decade ago.

It took her hours and hours to make the belt once she got it home, sewing each little bead into place one by one.  

When she was finished, though, it was too long for a traditional belt buckle. It wasn’t going to fit.

“I gave it to my husband and I said, ‘I made this and I can’t take it apart. It’s all beaded,’” she told Cowboy State Daily. “You need to make this fit me because if I put a traditional buckle on, it just doesn’t fit.’”

Her husband, an expert leatherworker, had been helping his wife make embroidered leather belts they were selling in little totes at local rodeos. So he took her project back to his workshop to see what he could figure out. 

The system he came up with was to place a metal ring on one end of the belt that he could fit into slots along the other end. That made the belt not only shorter, but more adjustable. 

That was the birth of the couple’s patented D-ring system, which has made their business, Pure Dixie, an international best-seller, as well as frequent vendors at choosy venues like the National Finals Rodeo and Cheyenne Frontier Days.

“That system completely changed how we thought of our products,” Berger said. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The problems didn’t end there, though. "}]

Berger’s mom was always losing her cell phone, so one day she asked Dixie if she could make a purse for her.

“That’s how the crossbody minis came to attach to the front of the bag,” Berger said. “And so, through like a process of things that have happened in our life, the ideas kind of came full circle, almost in a moment.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Belt Everyone Wanted"}]

Long before any of that, though, the whole operation fit inside a single 150-square-foot bedroom. That solved a different problem for Dixie.

“I was a stay-at-home mom with three kids,” she said. “And I was not willing to give that up. So I set up my spare bedroom with an embroidery business, and then my husband had leather stuff upstairs with all the sewing machines.”

By day, Dixie watched her children and squeezed in embroidery orders whenever time allowed while her husband worked saddles and tack and chaps on his family’s ranch. 

At night, after their kids went to bed, the two combined their skills to make pieces, first just for each other and then for a growing list of customers. One of those first pieces was an embroidered leather belt with Wyoming’s bucking horse logo on it — a Christmas present for Dixie. 

Dixie was proud of that belt, so it went with her to lots of places — including ranch rodeos where other girls wanted to know where she’d gotten such a cool belt. 

When they learned she and her husband made it, Dixie found herself taking orders for more belts. Lots of them.

That led to the couple bringing some of their belts to ranch rodeos in totes and selling them on the spot. 

“So it wasn’t really on purpose,” Berger said with a chuckle. “It was definitely something that just came to us, and definitely something we’ve enjoyed pursuing.”

One day not long after Kirby came up with the D-ring system, the couple was showing off their belts to someone named Diana.

As Diana picked up each belt to inspect, she would sling the one she’d just looked at over one shoulder to look at another. 

The belts looked so nice draped over her shoulder it gave Dixie instant inspiration. 

She realized the belts could double as purse straps, creating a more customizable purse using the D-ring system her husband designed.

She feels those moments — the too-long belt,  her mom’s missing phone, and even a customer casually slinging belts over her shoulder — all stacked together into the core of Pure Dixie’s patented mix-and-match system. 

“That belt has become a pretty iconic piece for the business,” Dixie said. 

Over time Berger has continued to add mix-and-match ideas, including patches that snap on and off. Cowboy hats, ball caps, and crossbody-minis all have a set of four snaps for patches. Feel like a bucking horse one day, and a bow the next? No problem, there’s a patch for every mood and every occasion.

“I love the aspect where every girl kind of gets to design her piece, and so girls aren’t walking out of our booth looking the same,” Berger said.  “We have so many options that everybody gets to pick their unique style.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Two Warehouses Later"}]

Today, the business no longer fits in a tiny bedroom. The couple has built two warehouses and hired four to five full-time employees to help them scale up the business.

“We have a custom tannery that tans all of our leather,” Dixie said. “And we do have manufacturing now in Mexico that helps us, and then we do all the finish work in Saratoga.”

Learning to navigate mass manufacturing with a company in Mexico, though, was its own steep learning curve.

“So my very first box ... I spent all of my money on this box of inventory from Mexico to have my designs produced by someone just to test it and see,” she said. “So I spent all my money and every single piece came back incorrect.”

This wasn’t just a bad order. It was literally every dollar she had, tied up in a box of unusable bags. 

“I was pretty sad about it and just frustrated and pretty deflated,” she said. “And my husband said to me, ‘This is the moment where someone else gave up.’ He’s like, ‘If you can figure it out and push through it, you just went past someone who would have given up.’”

Instead of sending back the box or walking away, they hauled out every bag and fixed them one by one, leaning on the leather-working skills they’d honed since the spare-bedroom days. 

“That was probably 2016, 2017 that that happened,” she said. “So we took every single bag out. We fixed them all, since we know how to do leather work and we can fix about whatever.”

That box has rewired how Dixie thinks about every problem in her business. If she can get through it, she’s always stepping past the point where someone else would have quit.

“It’s like, if I can get through this issue, through this tariff issue, through this leather-production issue, through this logistics issue, you know, that’s where someone else gave up,” she said. “And I just don’t want to, we’ve decided we don’t want to give up. We just want to do the very best we can and keep pursuing the dream.”

For this couple, that dream looks like a world where they are building an international business together and the children are part of that effort in a tiny Wyoming town where they can remain close to family.

“We failed a lot and we did some things right,” Dixie said. “And we just kept at it. It was a step-by-step process.”

Pure Dixie 20260724 155609 8 1 26

<title>How A Saratoga Woman Built An International Western Fashion Brand From Her Bedroom | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Saratoga woman was determined to remain a stay-at-home mom, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t build an international Western fashion brand. Her business Pure Dixie started in a 150-square-foot bedroom, now takes up two warehouses and continues to grow.

How A Saratoga Woman Built An International Western Fashion Brand From Her Bedroom

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Jackie Dorothy.

Jackie Dorothy

Around Wyoming

MEETEETSE — “Cowboy” John Fremlin lived in the saddle for most of his life before pursuing his passion of collecting and selling the most unique western history he can find. 

Fremlin calls his antique shop in Meeteetse a working museum where customers can touch, buy, sell and trade everything. His items range from modern bronze statues worth tens of thousands to Sharp rifles from the 1800s and matchbox cars from the 1970s.

The building that houses the Hole-in-the-Wall Antique Store (aka Old West Antiques & Cowboy Curiosities) is itself rich in history. 

It is the old Masonic building that dates to the 1890s and whose members included Buffalo Bill Cody. It was also used as the community hall and school before it was converted into the Meeteetse Museum. 

[{"type":"text","text":"In the 1990s, it was “orphaned” and bought by Fremlin."}]

While most items can be found scattered in a mish-mash of treasures stored in every conceivable corne

Fremlin keeps the most valuable items locked in a safe. This includes the death mask of the master criminal John Dillinger and the wooden gun Dillinger hand-carved to break out of prison in March 1934 befor

ned down by law enforcement a few months later. 

“It's all documented,” Fremlin explained as he opened the safe and gingerly removed the plaster death mask, pointing out the bullet hole in the face. “We have wanted posters and a picture of the gun and that type of thing.”

it is hard to put a price on history, Fremlin said instead of cash he had traded a few Old West guns for the Dillinger relics. He has had the death mask and fake gun for a few years  and said it doesn’t matter if he never sells them because it is part of the memorable experience Fremlin wants to give customer

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"True History"}]

“People are really shocked and surprised when they come in,” Fremlin said. “A lot of antique stores sell reproduction items, but everything here is real, whether it's vintage from the 1970s or 200 years old.”

Another item in the safe is an 1870 beaded horse belt Fremlin bought from a German tourist. The customer collected cowboy items and was slowly liquidating his Native American collection when he stopped at Fremlin’s store.

Fremlin explained he never knows what treasures he will find and is on the lookout for the most interesting. His goal is to always have unique items and to keep the inventory interesting.

“We've had a lot of Buffalo Bill items that were owned by him and presented to other people,” Fremlin said. “We once had a collection from Tombstone owned by Doc Holiday. Just pretty neat stuff.”

It is a treasure hunt as customers sift through items piled around the store. A banjo valued at $20 grand is propped up beneath a silver-plated saddle. Buckskin beaded dresses vie for attentio

letterman jackets and vintage army helmets. Coins, toy cars and antique books line the counters and bookshelves. 

There are also plenty of mysterious items. In another corner of the store is a tarnished suit of armor the former owner thought was a movie prop from the 1920s or 30s.  Fremlin said he thinks more likely it was made in the 1950s in Mexico.

A current mystery of Frelim’s is an original painting of a lady in blue. The face intrigues him and he said he discovered, after much research, that the artist painted under several different names. He would love to know the subject’s backstory, but for now he is content that he at least knows who painted her. 

“Some of the customers get overwhelmed when they come in here,” Fremlin said. “They say they could spend all day in here and I go, I know, I do every day.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Stories"}]

Fremlin said he likes items that speak to him and the previous owner used but took good care of. He said he can even tell who owned certain items by the way they are worn down.

“For example, natives would carry a rifle on the pommel so that the front part of the wood would be worn down so much that it’s curved while cowboys kept theirs in a scabbard,” Fremlin said. “When you look at it, it just sort of speaks to you, the history just comes right off the item.”

Fremlin said he once had a Sharp’s buffalo gun and the owner had carved images into the stock. The carvings were intricate and some of the eyes of the animals were made of tiny brass to mark the eye. Fremlin said it was covered with history.

“You could imagine that what he was carving was everything that he shot,” Fremlin said. “There was a couple of bears, a moose and even a Native chief with a bow and arrow so you don't know whether maybe he was a Native guy or maybe he had been in the Indian wars.”

The gun was still in decent condition when Fremlin acquired it and said it was obviously a tool that the owner valued.

Fremlin said he has been interested in antiques since he was about 4 years old and started trading at an early age for unique items. Fremlin also admits he can misjudge what his customers will buy. He will buy boxes of items instead of sorting through them and said that things he would normally reject invariably sell first.

Fremlin also tries to research each item before he sells it so if a story is attached he can share it. An example was of a painting he discovered was of Arizona John Burke of the Buffalo Wild West Show.

“He was the very first employee of Buffalo Bill for the show and stayed with him until the end,” Fremlin said. “We could have sold that painting without doing the research but now it can go to someone who collects Buffalo Bill stuff to add to their collection.”

Fremlin said he gets to enjoy the items while  in his store and tries not to take anything home. His goal is to have a wide variety of real antiques, whether it is a vintage hot rod sitting in his yard or a beaded moccasin.

“I select items that have a 'wow' factor,” Fremlin said. “If it has a story, it probably will speak to other people and not just to me.”

Contact Jackie Dorothy at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com

Cowboy John main 8 1 26

<title>Cowboy John's Hole-In-The-Wall Antiques Is A Western Time Capsule In Meeteetse | Cowboy State Daily</title>

From Dillinger’s death mask to items owned by Buffalo Bill, “Cowboy” John Fremlin collects relics for his Hole-in-the-Wall Antique Store in Meeteetse that speak to him and have a story to tell. "I select items that have the 'wow' factor," Fremlin says.

Cowboy John's Hole-In-The-Wall Antiques Is A Western Time Capsule In Meeteetse

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Wyoming Life

Lander resident John Applegate built a wooden bench and placed it along the popular Tomato Loop hiking trail during the COVID pandemic in 2020. Shortly after he put it there, it was stolen.

Applegate built another wooden bench and placed it in the same spot. 

The only logical solution was to take the time and effort to build a third bench and place it at the same spot where the others were stolen.

“Third time’s the charm,” Applegate told Cowboy State Daily. “I used a bunch of recycled wood, including old cabinets from the Lander Medical Clinic, and engraved everything on the back myself.”

Applegate has done this on his own time, with his own resources. He’s not bitter about the two stolen benches, but he hopes this one stays for the benefit of everyone in Lander.

“I want to give people the ability to enjoy the scenes around Lander that I've always enjoyed growing up here,” he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Right Spot"}]

A few years ago, Applegate wanted to lose weight. One of the ways he shed some pounds was by repeatedly hiking the Tomato Loop Trail with his wife.

“I lost 100 pounds, and hiking that trail was part of it,” he said. “Before I lost the weight, I’d get halfway up this one hill and just about die.  There was a little bench at the top, overlooking the Lander Llama Company, and I always took my break on that bench and enjoyed the view.”

That’s what inspired Applegate to build a bench for the hilltop. He knew people would savor the opportunity to sit and absorb the view.

“It’s been a favorite spot of mine, and I always enjoy the view,” he said. “I think it offers iconic views of Lander.”

Applegate sells repurposed pallet wood and laser art through his business, Four Finger Wood Art. His finished bench was engraved with the coordinates of Lander and the iconic Steamboat emblem, and took around 40 hours to complete.

[{"type":"text","text":"Shortly after he put the bench on the Tomato Loop, it was stolen. "}]

“People told me how much they enjoyed the first bench, so I made another one,” he said. “I put a bit more design into it, more of the artistic side of what I do, and made it sturdier to accommodate more people.”

Applegate placed the second bench in the same spot in August 2025. It was gone before the end of September.

“I was driving down Mortimer Lane, which I like to do, and saw that it was missing,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it. Who would do that?”

Applegate hoped the culprits would bring the bench back so everyone could enjoy it. They never did.

“If someone likes my work so much, I’ll make them their own bench,” he said. “I’d probably make it at no cost, because that’s what I do. This bench was meant to be a quiet gift to the community. A place to pause, breathe, and enjoy the scenery. Sadly, someone took it.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"One More Time"}]

Even after his second bench was stolen, Applegate thought he'd make another one. He placed it on the same hilltop, overlooking the Lander Llama Company, on June 26.

“Built by hand, shaped by a little stubbornness, and made to belong right where it stands,” he said.

Rather than using any templates, each wooden bench was custom-designed. Applegate said he let the process and materials dictate the designs.

“I like to repurpose stuff,” he said. “It’s a challenge for me, and I like the challenge. That’s one of the reasons why I keep making them. I never make the same bench twice. They’re all different.”

Applegate had a bit more fun with this one. Once it was ready for engraving, he decided to shake things up and pay homage to the residents at the base of the hill.

“I put the Bucking Horse on the other benches, but I kept thinking about the little llamas and decided to incorporate them instead,” he said. “It turned out pretty good.”

The new bench is flanked by engravings of llamas on either side. Lander’s coordinates are still engraved on the new bench, so everyone knows where they are.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It turned out pretty good,” he said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Think Thrice, Thieves"}]

The new bench is the fourth wooden bench Applegate has made and gifted to the Lander community. Another bench he placed in town was also stolen shortly after he finished it.

“That one was on Buena Vista Drive before it vanished,” he said. “Someone replaced it with a marble bench, so nobody’s stealing that.”

That said, Applegate has taken certain precautions with his latest project. After three benches and three thefts, he’s built in some security.

“I won't give a whole lot of detail, but if it does go missing, I'll know when and where it goes,” he said.

The owners of the Lander Llama Company, Scott and Therese Woodruff, loved the benches and were furious when they were stolen. They’ve elected to add their own anti-theft security.

“They asked if I didn't mind if they made an anchor or something to secure it, because they enjoy that bench just as much as everybody else,” Applegate said. “I told them I’m perfectly fine with that.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Gift For All"}]

Now that the Tomato Loop hilltop has a spot to sit, Applegate can pursue new benches and vistas. He’s already got another one in mind.

“There’s a spot going up Sinks Canyon where a lot of people like to stop and watch the elk when they’re there,” he said. “I’m thinking I might make one for that spot, as well.”

Nevertheless, Applegate hopes he won’t have to build another bench for the Tomato Loop. He wants to enjoy his handiwork as much as anyone else.

“Honestly, if someone took this bench, that's flattering,” he said. “If they like it, I wish they would reach out, talk to me, and ask me to make one for them. I’d probably do it for free. There's no monetary value in it for me. I like the challenge and giving back to the community that's given a lot to me.”

Applegate hasn’t let himself be deterred by the previous thefts. He described the new bench as “a project I really wanted to see through.”

“It’s sitting over the same Wyoming view that made the spot worth building for in the first place,” he said. “I’m happy to finally have it finished, set in place, and ready to be enjoyed again.”

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<title>Lander Man Keeps Building Benches For Community And Thieves Keep Stealing Them | Cowboy State Daily</title>

After the first two benches he built were stolen, a Lander man is giving it a third attempt. He's built yet another wooden bench and gave it to his neighbors so they can enjoy the iconic views of the popular Tomato Loop hiking trail. "Third time's the charm," he said.

Lander Man Keeps Building Benches For Community And Thieves Keep Stealing Them

Kerry Drake

CHEYENNE — If you were trapped in the deadliest flood to ever hit a Wyoming city, Judy Brayton was exactly the kind of hero you’d hope would find you.

When she came home to Cheyenne’s eastside Lakeview addition on Aug. 1, 1985, the Wyoming National Guard medic saw the field behind her house had become a river. 

“Six people were floating in water over their heads, grasping at tree limbs and trying to stand up (on) a van that was slowly sinking,” she told reporters the next day.

Brayton and three of her Guard co-workers quickly went into action. A makeshift hospital was soon set up in a neighbor’s garage. 

“I asked for blankets and I bet I got 50 of them,” she recalled.

Brayton said six men who were chained together and tied to a front-end loader swam to rescue victims. 

“People were shining the headlights of four-wheel-drive vehicles on the scene, and another man in a motor boat searched the water for other vehicles,” the medic said.

For two hours, Brayton stood in waist-deep water, talking to and aiding victims. When they were brought into a garage for medical assistance, Brayton said she kept calling out their names, like a roll call, “To give them hope and let them know they’d be OK.”

People mounted rescue efforts in other parts of the city but were having a difficult time reaching those who were trapped in their vehicles in Dry Creek in the northern part of the city, normally a dry drainage basin.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Opened Up a Faucet’"}]

Cheyenne Mayor Don Erickson, who recently turned 89, was in charge when the city experienced the 

 in 1979, and then the 1985 flash flood, which ranks with the blizzard of 1949 as one of the state's greatest disasters.

During a news conference in his office the day after the flood, Erickson came up with a quote that made national news with its metaphor about the freak storm. 

“It was like someone opened up a faucet right above our city and kept it open at ultra-high pressure,” he said of the deluge that dumped more than 6 inches of water in just hours.

Then and now, Erickson also praised Cheyenne’s volunteer spirit. 

“It’s not only volunteers for Frontier Days, which had 3,000 volunteers,” he said. “The entire community was affected. We had neighbors working night and day to get the hail and water out of these basements, especially for our seniors. It was up to the rafters!”

A dozen people, all Cheyenne residents, died in the flood. All but one drowned: Don Shanor, 67, director of the Downtown Development Association and retired educator, had spent the evening trying to bail the water out of his home.

One of the last things he said, according to his family, was to tell his grandson that he felt like he was trying to run uphill with a heavy bucket. After Shanor went to bed, he died of a heart attack.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"About 70 people were hurt."}]

Stalled thunderstorms hovered over the capital city and dropped 6.06 inches of rain between 5 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. That’s half of Cheyenne’s annual rainfall.

Beginning at 1:30 p.m., the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch until 8 p.m., but it was quickly upgraded to a severe thunderstorm warning.

By 6 p.m., hail was falling and getting bigger. 

A half-hour later, tornado spotters were dispatched around Laramie County to watch for funnel clouds. At 7:15 p.m. tornadoes were spotted about 8 miles south of Cheyenne. Within a half-hour, two more were sighted.

On July 15, 1979, a twister tore through Cheyenne, damaging about 400 homes and causing $25 million in damages. A 14-month-old boy died in a trailer park. It’s the most destructive tornado in Wyoming’s history, and part of its path ran along Dry Creek, the site of even more death and destruction six years later.

The Cheyenne flood damaged about 150 homes beyond repair, and 1,600 other houses to a lesser extent. Property damage was estimated at $65 million, affecting homes, businesses and infrastructure.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Warning Sirens Sound"}]

At 7:55 p.m. on the night of the flood, warning sirens — which weren’t available in many locations six years earlier — sounded throughout the city at the same time the National Weather Service issued a severe flash-flood warning. 

The Civil Defense Division of the city and county said some people were confused about whether they should go to their basements to seek protection from tornadoes or seek higher ground.

At 8:30 p.m., a 3-foot wall of water struck downtown Cheyenne, breaking glass doors in the city and county building and shattering storefront windows on nearly every block. 

The emergency operations center in the building’s basement was flooded, temporarily shutting down 911 communications for the city police and fire departments, plus the county sheriff’s department.

Dave Guille, the city’s emergency management director, later observed what went wrong that fateful night. He said it wasn’t lack of preparation or planning, it was the magnitude of the event.

“It was like the world came to an end, as far as [the] coordination we’ve been working on for years,” he said. “It failed because we had a flood through the entire network.”

By 10:30 p.m. a mobile command center was established downtown and emergency communications were back in operation. 

An hour later, Gov. Ed Herschler authorized use of the Wyoming Army and Air National Guard. In parts of the city, Sgt. 1st Class Brayton and other Guard personnel had started their own rescue operations many hours earlier.

Many of those who lost their lives were youngsters. Four were between 3 and 7 years old, and three were teens. A 27-year-old mother, Lynn Williams, drowned with her son John, 5.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Deputy Lost His Life"}]

One of the most tragic events involved Deputy Sheriff Robert Van Alyne Jr., 33, who had already rescued a mother and two children from a van when he went back for 6-year-old Kristy Hernandez, who was trapped by rising floodwaters atop the vehicle.

Van Alyne waded through the swift current to the vehicle, holding a rope he tied to himself that had been attached to a fixed object. 

It somehow became untied and the deputy and the little girl were swept away. Their bodies were found the next day about a mile from the vehicle.

“Some would say he was acting in the line of duty,” The Rev. Robert Ware of First Presbyterian Church said at his services, which drew more than 600 people. “But he was acting out of the kind of man he was. This was his nature, his character, his life.”

Van Alyne was a Vietnam War veteran who worked at the Cheyenne Police Department for eight years before joining the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office in 1984.

The oldest person who died in the flood was Alice Paulson, 73, who lived on West Seventh Avenue in the Capitol Heights neighborhood. The next day, her husband, 75-year-old Herb Paulson, opened his flooded home to Mike Barber of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Bob Storey, a city councilman.

The flood, Paulson told them, left several feet of water in his basement, where he led them. 

“When I looked in here and saw the water level, I knew [Alice] was gone,” he said. “It’s very sad.”

The Paulsons had lived in their home for 50 years. 

He was working at his service station when the flood began, and he couldn’t reach his wife by phone. When he got back to their house, he saw their flooded basement and knew what happened.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Too Many Memories’"}]

“She had heard that tornado warning and got scared,” Paulson told the two men. “Then the flood got her,” along with their two dachshunds. 

In addition to losing his wife, he also had to clean up the damage to their home and wondered aloud to a Denver reporter if he might not be better off selling their home and living in a small place behind his service station. 

He pointed to all of the damage and explained, “Too many memories in there.”

Meteorologists from the National Weather Service explained to residents through local media what had happened. 

“The bowl effect of mountains to the west and Cheyenne Ridge to the east of the city was the perfect trap for the storm cell that spawned what has been labeled a 100-year flood," they said. “Moist unstable air flowing in from the southwest — the norm for the area all summer long — built up over Cheyenne through the afternoon, forming a storm cloud. 

"The top of the cloud was approximately 65,000 feet, as compared to 40,000 to 50,000 feet for a typical thunderstorm.”

As temperatures rose, the NWS reported that the storm broke loose, dumping the tremendous buildup of moisture onto the city.

Light winds kept the thunderstorm stationary long enough for 6 inches of rain to drench the city. Normally, higher winds will move a storm steadily across a much larger area, spreading out the rain evenly and lessening the damage.

But in this case, the thunderstorm kept redeveloping in a pocket right over the same 10- to 12-mile area. Cities and towns surrounding Cheyenne received only a trace of rain.

On Aug. 1, 1985, Cheyenne was pummeled by a massive storm that unleashed a wall of water killing 12 people and causing more than $65 million in damage. The 65,000-ft thunderheads stalled over the city unleashing tornadoes, hail and unprecedented flooding.

Daily Cartoon: Monday, August 30, 2021

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