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

<title>Daily Darwin: Tuesday, December 13, 2022 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

This is a really, really, really bad idea...

Daily Darwin: Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Lubnau head 2

Tom Lubnau

Opinion

CSD Columnists

The Wyoming Republican Party's new move to endorse primary candidates, demand loyalty oaths, and favor certain campaigns is a violation of Wyoming law, short-sighted, and self-destructive.

Their actions will lead to the party's eventual collapse, and the party is doing it to itself.

The central committees exist to recruit electable candidates and serve the Republican electorate.

Somewhere along the way, the Republican governance lost the plot. 

The Republican central committee is the group that spends weekends playing model legislature where they debate resolutions, censure members, and expel anyone who had the audacity to go to the lake instead of attending a Saturday meeting. 

Between meetings, they bloviate, posture, and pontificate on matters that affect no one outside the room. 

Then they wonder why nobody pays attention.

So, in a bid for relevance, they've decided to pick winners in primary elections as if the voters can't be trusted to do it themselves.

Here's the problem. Assume ten candidates are running for U.S. Representative. Each has donors, volunteers, and true believers. The moment the party anoints one of them, it makes enemies of the other nine camps. Those people worked hard, donated money, and believed in their candidate. 

That anger doesn't evaporate after Election Day. Betrayal has a long memory.

As my old friend Al Simpson once told me when I was doing something misguided: 

"In politics, friends come and go, but enemies accumulate."

The central committees don't seem to understand that principle or they don't care. Either way, the invoices eventually come due.

Consider a governor's race. Assume 4 candidates are running. 

If the party endorses a candidate who loses, does anyone think the winner owes them anything?

Gratitude? Loyalty? Cooperation? Not a chance. They backed the other guy.

Remember, the Wyoming Republican Central Committee is the same party organization that once favored Ted Cruz over Donald Trump in a straw poll.

Now, they demand fealty to the platform and question other Republicans' conservative credentials. The hypocrisy is breathtaking.

The resentment compounds in other ways, too. I've heard — anecdotally, but credibly — that at the state convention, certain candidates for the same office were charged to put up signs while their opponents were not. If true, that isn't party leadership. That's a thumb on the scale dressed up as administration.

The party's credibility has eroded to the point where serious candidates simply skip party-sponsored debates.

And why wouldn't they? When your forums are widely perceived as auditions for predetermined favorites, participating only legitimizes the charade. Skipping the debate costs a candidate nothing.

Showing up and getting sandbagged costs plenty. So, the debates become theater for the already-converted, meaningful to no one else.

Then there are the loyalty oaths. Wyoming's constitutional oath of office requires officeholders to uphold the United States and Wyoming Constitutions. That's it.

Nothing in Wyoming law demands a pledge of ideological purity to a party platform — and certainly not to a platform drafted by 23 people huddled in a back room the day before the state convention, whose product was then presented to the full convention delegation without opportunity for debate, amendment, or even a question from the floor. 

The delegates, by their silence, ratified whatever the back-room kids wanted. That's not grassroots democracy. That's a coronation with extra steps.

Now candidates are asked to swear allegiance to an internally inconsistent document most delegates never had a chance to examine critically. For perspective, demanding loyalty oaths as a condition of participation has historically been the province of feudal monarchies, authoritarian regimes, and the occasional communist party. It is an odd model for a party that claims to champion individual liberty. 

The only legitimate measure of a Republican candidate's strength is the ballot box. Republican voters are the test. 

Our elections should not be altered by validation seeking central committee members, back-room kids drafting a platform or self-aggrandizing party leadership.

Voters are the rightful judges of who represent our values and interests.

It takes a particular brand of arrogance to conclude otherwise.

The central committees are supposed to represent all Republicans. Instead, they have appointed themselves gatekeepers, convinced that their weekend deliberations produce insights superior to the collective judgment of tens of thousands of voters. They have confused arrogance with authority.

The remedy is straightforward. Ignore the endorsements. Skip the loyalty oath theater. Learn about the candidates on your own terms, about their records, their character, their positions. Then vote.

The back-room kids have had their turn. Take your election back.

Tom Lubnau served in the Wyoming Legislature from 2004 to 2015 and is a former Speaker of the House. He can be reached at: 

<title>Tom Lubnau: The Wyoming Republican Party Is Eating Itself | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Columnist Tom Lubnau writes, "The Wyoming GOP's move to endorse primary candidates, demand loyalty oaths, and favor campaigns is a violation of Wyoming law, short-sighted, and self-destructive. Their actions will lead to the party's eventual collapse."

Tom Lubnau: The Wyoming Republican Party Is Eating Itself

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

Andrew Rossi

Law Enforcement

An armed female suspect surrendered to law enforcement after a multi-hour standoff on Cody's upscale south side Wednesday afternoon.

Dawn Blaylock, 41, was arrested and charged with criminal trespass, property destruction, and interference with a police officer.

At 1:20 p.m., the Cody Police Department alerted residents of an active law-enforcement situation in the 700 block of Meadow Lane Avenue, near the Olive Glenn Golf Course.

“We responded to a residence following a report of criminal trespass,” Lt. Juston Wead with the Cody Police Department told Cowboy State Daily. “When officers arrived, they made contact with (Blaylock), who had entered the residence unlawfully and then barricaded herself in a portion of the residence armed with a firearm.”

Several streets in the area were blocked by vehicles from multiple responding agencies, including the Park County Sheriff’s Office, the Wyoming Highway Patrol, and the Cody Volunteer Fire Department.

The Cody PD’s ballistic armored tactical transport vehicle, or “bearcat,” was on the scene as of 1:30 p.m. Officers in tactical gear and carrying firearms surrounded the residence, and an EMS crew from Cody Regional Health was on standby.

Meanwhile, locals were told to avoid the area and neighbors were told to shelter in place.

After several hours of negotiation, Blaylock surrendered and was taken into custody without incident around 4:45 p.m. Wead confirmed there were no injuries.

[{"type":"text","text":"“That was what we were hoping for,” he said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"No other details were available at publication."}]

Cody standoff 6 24 26

<title>Armed Woman Arrested Near Cody Golf Course After Multi-Hour Standoff | Cowboy State Daily</title>

An armed female suspect surrendered to law enforcement after a multi-hour standoff on Cody's south side Wednesday afternoon. Dawn Blaylock, 41, was arrested and charged with criminal trespass, property destruction, and interference with a police officer.

Armed Woman Arrested Near Cody Golf Course After Multi-Hour Standoff

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Wildlife

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is trying to determine why a black bear attacked a woman Sunday on a popular hiking trail, and then followed her for 30 minutes despite her shouting and throwing rocks at it.

“We don’t know for sure, because we haven’t found the bear,” Kara Van Hoose, CPW's northeast region spokeswoman, told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday.

The bear was thought to be a “yearling, or young adult,” she added.

Predatory attacks, in which a bear is deliberately stalking a person as prey, are extremely rare in both black bears and grizzlies.

Most bear attacks are defensive or territorial.

The consensus among bear biologists is that while grizzlies are more likely to attack humans, black bears are more likely to attack in a purely predatory manner.

While the bear’s behavior was alarming, CPW doesn’t think it was predatory, Van Hoose said.

“It makes us think more likely a food-conditioned bear, not a predatory black bear,” she said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Bear Wouldn’t Give Up"}]

The woman, who CPW did not identify, told wildlife agents that she was attacked from behind and suffered scratches on one leg at about 5:20 p.m.

She was on the Enchanted Forest trail in the 700-acre Apex Park near Golden in Jefferson County. CPW shut down the park after the reported attack.

The woman told investigators the bear continued to follow her despite her repeated attempts to intimidate and haze it by making herself look big, shouting, and throwing rocks and sticks.

Toward the end of the encounter, the woman was joined by two hikers who responded to her calls for help. Even with all three people shouting at it, the bear was undeterred, CPW reported.

Eventually, the bear turned down another trail, where it reportedly started following other hikers, according to CPW.

The woman is an avid hiker who has had previous bear encounters, and acted appropriately by trying to intimidate and haze the bear, Van Hoose said.

The woman gave CPW a short cellphone video she took during the encounter, which helped the agency identify the bear as relatively small and probably young, Van Hoose said.

CPW isn’t at liberty to share the video with Cowboy State Daily, she said.  

 reported the woman reached out and shared the video and details of the encounter but declined to be named in their report.

The woman told Denver 7 the bear was “circling” her.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Problems Human-Caused"}]

British Columbia bear researcher Lana Ciarniello told Cowboy State Daily she couldn’t comment on the specifics of the Colorado attack, but affirmed that predatory behavior is extremely rare in both black bears and grizzlies.

Most human-bear conflict is rooted in human mistakes, such as deliberately feeding bears or allowing them access to garbage or other food sources, she said.

People who recreate in bear territory should “take training courses” on avoiding close encounters, and what to do if one occurs.

And “carry bear spray,” Ciarniello said.

Van Hoose said it wasn’t known for certain whether the woman attacked in Colorado was carrying bear spray.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Time To Fight Back"}]

Ciarniello noted that a video tutorial, “Staying Safe in Bear Country”, was made years ago by the International Bear Association (IBA) but remains a “gold standard” bear-safety training tool.

In one segment, the difference is noted between defensive actions by bears versus deliberate approaches.

Bears that deliberately approach people might be driven by curiosity or food conditioning, according to IBA. In rare instances, bears see people as prey.

A predatory bear will move in “with its head up and ears erect, its approach is confident and persistent,” according to IBA.

If a predatory bear makes contact, it’s time to fight back because “you’re fighting for your life,” IBA states.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What Happens To The Bear?"}]

It’s not certain what will happen to the bear once CPW finds it, Van Hoose said.

More information is needed before it can be determined whether it will be euthanized, or if other action is needed, she said.

Agents need to determine if it has persisted in following people or displayed other aggressive behavior, and whether it might be malnourished or suffering from disease, Van Hoose said.

Bear denver 6 24 26

<title>Colorado Wildlife Officials Uncertain Why Black Bear Attacked, Followed Woman | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Colorado wildlife agents are trying to determine why a black bear attacked a woman on a hiking trail in Denver and then followed her for 30 minutes despite her shouting and throwing rocks at it. The woman who took video of the encounter said it was "circling her."

Colorado Wildlife Officials Uncertain Why Black Bear Attacked, Followed Woman

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Around Wyoming

A dispute over primitive outhouses on Amish-owned property in Crook County has prompted claims that some families are leaving northeast Wyoming’s oldest Amish community, though county officials say the issue has been resolved and was never intended to drive anyone away.

Sheridan rancher Pepper Fipps said he believes county enforcement efforts over wastewater disposal in the Hulett area have discouraged Amish families from remaining in the community.

“They wind up starting a little bit of a war,” Fipps said of the commissioners. “The community is dwindling.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Crook County Commission vice chairman Bob Latham disputes that."}]

“It’s all settled now. Everything is fixed,” Latham told Cowboy State Daily.

An estate moving sale earlier this month was held for two Amish families — Abe and Elizabeth Yoder and Rudy and Irene Borntreger. Records show Abe Yoder was among the landowners involved in the wastewater dispute.

About 40 Amish families live in the Hulett area, Fipps said. Founded in 2011, the Hulett Amish settlement is one of five in Wyoming.

Cowboy State Daily attempted to contact the families but did not receive responses before publication. Amish communities have traditionally relied on the U.S. mail for communication, and many members do not use cell phones or email.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Sanitation Concerns"}]

The issue surfaced in October 2024, when Crook County officials learned some Amish landowners west of Hulett had dug pits to use as toilets without obtaining permits.

Crook County wastewater specialist Caleb Peters informed commissioners that Yoder had installed outhouses that did not comply with county regulations, according to reporting by the Sundance Times.

Latham said a hole in the ground used to collect human waste is considered an illegal outhouse because it poses a risk to groundwater.

Commissioners scheduled a hearing in January 2025, expecting Yoder to attend and discuss the matter, but he did not appear, according to the Times.

Peters and county planning director Tim Lyons determined conditions at some properties presented health concerns after observing graywater and blackwater drainage. The Times reported Peters found a chicken with its head inside blackwater drainage at one residence, along with what he described as an odor of rot. At another property, he reportedly discovered an abandoned outhouse occupied by animals.

Latham said county code requires human-waste receptacles to be portable, pumpable or connected to a septic system.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No Fines Levied"}]

Fipps contends county officials threatened landowners with fines of up to $30,000 per day if they failed to comply with regulations.

He called the county’s rule about illegal outhouses “asinine, stupid."

“It is baffling to me because I haven’t ever seen an outhouse blow up,” he said, noting Amish families typically live on 160-acre parcels well away from town.

[{"type":"text","text":"Latham said fines were never a part of the county’s solution."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“To my knowledge, we never imposed fines,” he said."}]

Due to the challenge of communicating with Amish residents, County Attorney Joe Baron mailed letters to the landowners, Latham said. Peters also visited properties in person several times, he added.

“Some didn't want to talk to him,” Latham said. “Some did and were very cordial. The ones who didn't found out we're not going to quit, because it's about health and safety. It's something we take very seriously.”

After being notified of the violations, some landowners installed vault toilets that comply with county requirements, he said.

He credited Peters’ persistence with resolving the issue. 

“Caleb did a heck of a job of staying on it and getting things corrected,” Latham said. “Sometimes they feel like they can follow a different path. It was a lot of education and a lot of back-and-forth.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Government Overreach Or Public Health?"}]

Fipps said he believes the county's response amounted to government overreach.

Latham disagrees, saying Crook County is obligated to enforce regulations consistent with standards established by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality.

“Every time we have to knuckle down and say, 'This isn't right', we hear that,” he said. “We could have been a lot meaner about it. It was mainly getting an understanding of what the laws are.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Our biggest thing with that deal is their health and safety.” "}]

According to the Young Center at Elizabethtown College, Crook County is home to Wyoming's largest Amish settlement. The state's Amish population numbers roughly 500 people spread among five settlements.

[{"type":"text","text":"Smaller settlements have since formed near Newcastle, Buffalo and Powell."}]

“I've known them my whole life,” Fipps said of the Hulett settlement. “I've traded horses with them and done business with them.”

Outhouse 2 6 24 26

<title>Rancher Claims Outhouse Dispute The Reason Amish Community Leaving Hulett | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Sheridan rancher says an "asinine, stupid" outhouse crackdown is pushing Amish families out of the Hulett area. He said landowners were threatened with fines of up to $30,000 per day if they failed to comply with outhouse regulations.

Rancher Claims Outhouse Dispute The Reason Amish Community Leaving Hulett

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Jackie Dorothy.

Jackie Dorothy

Wyoming Life

They have been dubbed by historians as the Arapaho Five, warriors who found themselves fighting against the cavalry in the Battle of the Little Bighorn 150 years ago this week. In the spring of 1876, these young bucks, as they called themselves, snuck off from the fort where their band was camping and became part of history. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Their names were Left Hand, Yellow Eagle, Yellow Fly, Water Man and Sage."}]

In 1919, Tim McCoy, actor and adopted member of the Arapaho tribe, was sitting in a powwow with several Arapaho friends on the Wind River Indian Reservation along the Little Wind River. 

He later related the story to Darryl Ponicsan in a June 1977 article for the American Heritage magazine, 

“High Eagle The Many Lives Of Colonel Tim Mccoy

“They started telling me that Old Water Man was in that fight,” McCoy said. “I sort of scoffed at it because every Indian and his brother was in that fight. Practically all of them killed Custer.”

However, when McCoy began asking Water Man questions, the old Arapaho answered them all accurately. Determined to have the old men tell the stories themselves, McCoy arranged for separate interviews with Water Man and Left Hand in nearby Riverton by 1920. 

The other three warriors had already gone to the “great mystery” according to Left Hand and 

. However,  Sage, was still living near St. Stephens under the name of Sherman Sage. Only remnants of Sage's own story were ever recorded.

The two warriors McCoy knew about agreed their stories needed told.

“I had lived 22 snows at the time of the great battle on the Little Bighorn River,” 

told McCoy. “Soon Left Hand and I must go to the long sleep, and no one will be alive to tell the story, so I will tell you, whom the Arapahoes call their Soldier-Chief, everything just as I saw it, and nothing that is not the truth.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Left Hand & Water Man"}]

Left Hand began his story by stating that he was part Blackfeet and part Cheyenne but had always lived among the Arapaho. He was born in the Powder River Country and, in 1876, was camped with the Arapaho at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, drawing rations, when he left with a war party to fight the Shoshones.

“When we were young men, it was the custom of the young Indian to go on small war parties looking for Shoshones or other unfriendly tribes,” Water Man explained. “If our medicine was good, we sometimes returned to camp with a scalp or a number of ponies.” 

The young bucks rode north into the buffalo country and, near the Little Bighorn River just south of what is now Crow Agency, Montana, met a small party of Sioux.

“They told us that the Sioux were going to have a sundance and said that we should come along with them to the Sioux village and have a good time,” Water Man said. “Afterward I learned that these Sioux thought we were scouts for the white soldiers.”

Unaware that they were being tricked, the five Arapaho rode with the Sioux. As they came near the village, a great many Sioux came out of the camp.

“They took all our guns away, and made us prisoners, saying that we were scouts of the white man, and that they were going to kill us,” Water Man said.

Young Two Moon, nephew of Cheyenne Chief Two Moon, said all the Sioux believed they were scouts from a camp of soldiers. He verified the Arapahos' claim of being held prisoner in a 1908 interview with George Bird Grinnell.

“Two men took their part — Black Wolf and Last Bull,” Young Two Moon said. “They said the people should wait and not act hastily.”

The Arapaho were taken into Two Moon’s lodge. The Sioux threatened to kill the five all night.

“In the morning, Two Moon, Chief of the Cheyenne, learned we were Arapahoes, so he went to the Sioux Chiefs and made them give us back our guns and set us free,” Water Man said.

The Arapaho were given back their guns but not allowed to leave camp. The young men saw the sun rise two times and the village grew to thousands of warriors, the most any had ever seen in one place.

It was on the third day, June 25, 1876, that the battle began.

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

All the Arapaho men had readied themselves for the battle. Water Man said he was dressed in beaded leggings, breechclout, a white shirt and a large war bonnet. Left Hand was dressed in a shirt and breechclout, and his medicine was a piece of buffalo hide made into a cross with two feathers in it, which he wore in his hair.

“My face was painted yellow and red and, around my neck, tied in a deer-skin medicine bag, was a certain root, which was my medicine,” Water Man said. “I still have that same medicine,”

Left Hand said the first attack, led by Major Marcus Reno, was at the south end of the village when the sun was at the position of about 9 a.m.

“The soldiers fired a few shots, but when we rushed toward them, they became frightened and started back across the river,” Left Hand said. “Many of them lost their horses and had to swim across."

He described how the soldiers climbed on a high ridge and built a barricade.

“There were many soldiers killed there,” Left Hand said. “The Sioux were all around them.”

When the sun was straight up, about noon, Left Hand heard shooting at the lower end of the village and knew it must be more soldiers.

“I went down through the village and crossed the river with a large party of Sioux and Cheyennes,” Left Hand said. “We Arapahoes had all gotten separated during the first fight.”

 had joined a group of warriors at the lower end of the village and fought off troops who were trying to cross the river and attack the camp. During the earlier part of the fight, Waterman was in a small gulch below the hill where the soldiers were stationed. He later moved up the hill and closed in on the enemy.

“There was a great deal of noise and confusion,” Water Man said. “The air was heavy with powder smoke, and the Indians were all yelling.”

Water Man said Crazy Horse, the Sioux Chief, was the bravest man he had ever seen.

“Crazy Horse rode closest to the soldiers, yelling to his warriors,” he said. “All the soldiers were shooting at him, but he was never hit.”

Water Man said he only knew of one soldier he personally killed. It was near the end of the fight when they rushed to the top of the hill and finished all that were still alive.

“I killed him with my gun, but did not scalp him because the Arapahoes do not scalp a man with short hair, only long hair,” Water Man said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Killed A Sioux But Not White Soldier"}]

Left Hand, who counted 13 coup during the battle, saw an Indian on foot who was wounded in the leg.

“Thinking he was one of the Crow or Arikara scouts with the soldiers, I rode at him, striking at him with a long lance which I carried,” Left Hand said. “The head of the lance was sharpened like an arrow. It struck him in the chest and went clear through him.”

The Indian fell over a pile of dead soldiers. Afterward. Left Hand discovered the man he killed was actually Sioux.

“The Sioux were going to kill me because I had killed their friend,” Left Hand said. “One Sioux tried to take my horse away from me, but I would not give him up.

“Everyone was excited. The hills were swarming with Indians, all yelling and shooting.”

Left Hand said that as he came up on the ridge, one soldier, who was on the ground, handed him his gun.

“I took the gun and did not kill him, but some Sioux who were behind me killed him,” Left Hand said. “I went back and took his belt, which had many cartridges in it.”

McCoy said the soldier was wounded and handed Left Hand his gun to surrender.

Five young Arapaho braves snuck off from Fort Robinson 150 years ago this week and fought the 7th Cavalry at Little Bighorn, where General Custer met his demise. They later told their story to actor and adopted member of the Arapaho tribe, Tim McCoy.

Daily Darwin: Tuesday, December 13, 2022

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