Daily Darwin

[{"type":"text","text":"Is this parking space available??"}]

Darwin 10 14 23

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

<title>Daily Darwin: Saturday, October 14, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Is this parking space available??

Daily Darwin: Saturday, October 14, 2023

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

Andrew Rossi

Business & Tourism

A dinosaur was spotted near Yellowstone National Park this week for the first time in 68 million years.

A 12-foot-long Sinclair dinosaur that usually stands outside Gardiner Sinclair & Yellowstone Dino Lube and Repair north of Gardiner, Montana, was stolen, taken and anchored down 10 miles away on a cliff overlooking the Yellowstone River in Yankee Jim Canyon.

Drivers traveling along U.S. Highway 89 on Sunday could clearly see the majestic beast looming over its prehistoric stomping grounds.

The dinosaur couldn’t bolt away because it was literally bolted to the rock on which it was standing.

That made it more difficult to retrieve, said Derek Johnston, who works for the Sinclair station.

“I’m the guy who had to retrieve it,” said Johnston, adding that he likes to call the 6-foot-high and 12-foot-long, 150-pound fiberglass dinosaur “Dino.”

“It could’ve been worse,” he told Cowboy State Daily on Friday. “Whoever took him obviously planned this, because they brought all the proper tools to remove it from our location, then drill into the granite and anchor it to the cliff face.”

Throughout Dino’s excellent adventure, the dinosaur wasn’t damaged at all, Johnston said.

“They did a pretty good job, and I was absolutely impressed,” he said. “They didn’t even damage it — and definitely put some thought into it.”

That the pranksters didn’t damage Dino is a bonus, he said, because it costs about $8,000.

There isn’t a camera covering where the dinosaur sat on a concrete pad outside the Sinclair station, he said, but there is on a second dinosaur on the property.

“It might be a smart thing to put a tracker on it in the future,” Johnston added.

Nobody’s stepped up to take credit for taking Dino, but Johnston has a theory.

“The jury’s still out on who actually took it,” he said. “We suspect it was locals because there’s no damage.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Unbolted And Rebolted"}]

The stolen dinosaur statue is usually bolted to a concrete pad in front of the station along U.S. 89. Whoever stole and relocated it must have been aware and prepared.

"I found it funny," Sinclair employee Jacque Sims 

. "To think that our dinosaur was sitting up in the canyon up there, it was funny. We were laughing all day."

According to Sims, the still-unknown thieves managed to steal the dinosaur during the night from a spot where they wouldn’t be caught on camera. They also had the means to secure transport.

When Sims and other Sinclair employees went to recover their dinosaur, they found it bolted to the hard rock in Yankee Jim Canyon, Johnston said. They ensured the dinosaur they stole wouldn’t be stolen by anyone else.

"They literally had to unbolt it from a cement pad out here, and they re-bolted it up on a cliff," Sims told KBZK.

Plenty of people spotted the bright green dinosaur as they drove past.

Bozeman resident Justice Bartlett said these types of “shenanigans” were “the crimes we deserve.”

The most difficult part was making sure Dino didn’t tip over and fall 100 feet into the Yellowstone River below, Johnston said. That, and carrying it, because it doesn’t have handles and is hard to get a grip on.

Now, Dino is back and safely inside the shop at the station until they figure out how to bolt it down again in a way it can’t be dino-napped again, Johnston said.

“We brought it back and tucked it inside our shop,” he said. “It’s in a safe place right now until we figure out how to anchor it so that doesn’t happen again.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Targets Of Theft"}]

Stealing Sinclair dinosaurs has become a common Western prank.

, “DINO,” a 300-pound dinosaur standing outside Sloanes General Store in Alcova, was stolen overnight. For Brian Black, it wasn’t a victimless crime.

"We don’t know what happened to it, but he’s a pretty big guy, so he just doesn’t walk off,” he told Cowboy State Daily at the time. “We sure would like to have him back. I would do ‘no questions asked,’ personally.”

That was an important caveat, because the dinosaur statue cost more than $8,000. That would make the theft a felony charge.

 in July 2022. The Flynn family was distraught to find their 150-pound green dinosaur had gone missing overnight.

“I’ve always had a dream of owning a Sinclair dinosaur, and it was going to happen someday,” Flynn told Cowboy State Daily. “Last year, we were traveling through Minnesota, and I saw a Bob’s Big Boy for sale at this statue place. When we got there, I saw they had a Sinclair dinosaur.”

In this case, the Flynns used social media to spread the word on their stolen Sinclair dinosaur. A few days later, it mysteriously returned to their home overnight.

“I think he ended up in a garage for a couple days and (the thieves) realized, ‘We have got to get this thing out of here,’ so they brought him back,” Flynn said. “I was thinking he’d show up in a park somewhere, but instead, they brought him back to the house and pushed him out. I was just so excited that morning.”

Montanans have their own penchant for stealing Sinclair dinosaurs.

In November 2025, a dinosaur statue was stolen from the Sinclair Gas Station off Bridger Drive in Bozeman, Montana. It appeared at the top of the M Trail, overlooking the valley, right above the giant white “M” on the mountainside.

Yellowstone is renowned for its modern-day wildlife, but it’s been 

a haven for plenty of prehistoric animals

During the last Ice Age, the park was filled with giant mammals such as mammoths, dire wolves, 

In October 2023, a team of paleontologists published a paper on 

 found within the boundaries of the park.

Matt Carrano, curator of dinosaurs at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., said it was “the first identifiable dinosaur fossil from Yellowstone that we are aware of.”

“T.rex is very typical of the end of the Cretaceous,” he said. “This is just a tooth, but it does have all the features of a tyrannosaur tooth.

“Because there’s only one tyrannosaur around at the end of the Cretaceous, we felt pretty comfortable referring this to Tyrannosaurus.”

The tooth was from the Harebell Formation, which is roughly 68 million years old. That makes it much younger than the Sinclair sauropod, which is modeled after the massive long-necked sauropods that roamed Wyoming around 150 to 146 million years ago.

The Sinclair Oil Corp. adopted “Dino,” a green Brontosaurus, as its corporate mascot in 1930.

The company claimed its lubricants had been "mellowing in the ground during the Mesozoic era when dinosaurs populated the earth."

Sinclair also funded paleontological research undertaken by the American Museum of Natural History in Wyoming and other states in the 1930s.

The company famously sponsored “Dinoland,” an exhibit featuring several life-size dinosaur replicas, for the New York World’s Fair of 1964-1965.

No sauropod fossils have been found in or near Yellowstone, but anything’s possible.

While northwest Wyoming would have been different during the Late Jurassic, Brontosaurus, Diplodocus, and other sauropods likely roamed across Yellowstone during that time.

“You don’t think of fossils when you think of Yellowstone, but it has incredible geology, not just the geysers,” Carrano said. “It’s nice to remind visitors and even scientists that this is a place where we can make these discoveries. There are rocks of all ages in the park.”

Stolen dinosaur 751751899 4125381900930006 8776692949943971541 n 7 24 26

<title>Stolen 12-Foot Sinclair Dinosaur Bolted To 100-Foot Cliff Over Yellowstone River | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 12-foot-long dinosaur nicknaed Dino that usually stands outside a Sinclair gas station near Gardiner, Montana, was stolen Sunday night. It reappeared bolted to a 100-foot cliff face overlooking the Yellowstone River.

Stolen 12-Foot Sinclair Dinosaur Bolted To 100-Foot Cliff Over Yellowstone River

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

Courts

Editor's note: The subject matter of this story is sensitive and might be disturbing for some readers. Read at your discretion.

A Douglas man facing up to 791 years in prison on 72 felony charges alleging sexual abuse of minors, including possessing and making child pornography, was released on his own recognizance by a Colorado court Thursday after he was arrested on a fugitive warrant out of Wyoming.

John Charles Smallbone, 38, appeared in Larimer County Court in Fort Collins before Magistrate Heather Siegel after he was arrested on the outstanding Converse County warrant the previous day, according to the court and the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office.

Instead of being held for transport on the Wyoming fugitive warrant, Smallbone walked out of jail on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond.

He couldn’t be held because the extradition paperwork, which was sent to the Colorado court by 9:30 a.m. Thursday, apparently wasn’t filed with the court before Smallbone’s hearing.

Now, instead of having a man accused of committing dozens of illegal sex acts with kids in custody, “We’re out looking for him again,” said Converse County Undersheriff Chris Walsh. “And we’re going to find him again. The freedom clock on him is running out.”

Walsh said whatever snafu unfolded to allow a wanted man to be released didn’t happen on Converse County’s end of the transaction. He was just as surprised as everyone to learn Smallbone was released.

“We’d been working with investigators there in Larimer County; we provided them with all of our warrant information, all our affidavits,” Walsh told Cowboy State Daily on Friday.

“Whatever happened, he ended up getting released,” he said, adding that the sheriff’s office in Colorado gave his agency “great cooperation” and any mix-up likely happened at the court level.

“I feel like we did everything on our end we could do” to get Smallbone back to Wyoming, he said. “But we can’t file anything in a Colorado court.”

Smallbone is supposed to be in Converse County District Court on Tuesday for an arraignment on the 72 felonies he faces, according to court records.

Asked whether he expects Smallbone to be at that hearing, Walsh replied, “I’m not going to hold my breath.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘We Couldn’t Believe It’"}]

A staffer at the Larimer County Court confirmed Friday afternoon that the magistrate didn't have the Wyoming paperwork by the time Smallbone's hearing came up.

The Converse County Attorney’s Office responded that it has a policy of not commenting on active cases, stating that his arraignment is set for Tuesday and that “our office expects him to appear for that court date.”

Kelsey Crandall was watching a livestream of Smallbone’s hearing Thursday and said she was “absolutely floored” when she realized he would be walking out of jail.

“Me and my coworkers were watching it, and we couldn’t believe it,” she told Cowboy State Daily on Friday.

Crandall said she knows Smallbone, but not well. She and the others are interested in the case “because this is a small town and we have families.”

“We’re here in Douglas, and I know this man,” she added. “My understanding from the hearing is Converse County did send (the proper paperwork) in, but it was not processed … in Colorado in time.”

Cowboy State Daily talked to another person who watched the livestream of the hearing who corroborated Crandall’s account.

Along with the magistrate who was presiding over the hearing, Crandall said that even Smallbone “seemed kind of confused.”

She also said it appeared the magistrate had to agree with Smallbone’s defense attorney, who argued for the PR bond.

“The judge did say that she agrees with the defense that it was not processed correctly through their court,” Crandall said.

She also said Smallbone assured the Colorado magistrate that if given a PR bond, he’d return to Wyoming for his Tuesday hearing, along with another one in Colorado set for him Thursday, per an order by the magistrate.

“I know him from our town, and I’ve worked with him previously,” Crandall said, adding that she watched the hearing “truly, honestly, just because I’m nosy.

“But it’s happening in our small community, and the victims of his (alleged) crimes, I’m friends with a parent.”

Like Undersheriff Walsh, Crandall isn’t holding her breath for Smallbone to show up for court Tuesday.

“I have a good feeling he won’t,” she said. “I can’t imagine him showing up.”

A call to Smallbone’s Converse County public defender wasn’t returned by publication.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"That’s A Lot Of Cash"}]

The apparent error with the Colorado court isn’t the first time Walsh has been surprised by Smallbone and the case against him.

He was able to abscond to another state because he posted a $250,000 cash bond in his Converse County case — and did so when someone on his behalf walked into the Converse County Detention Center on June 24 with a quarter of a million dollars in cash.

“That surprised me as well, definitely a surprising twist,” Walsh said, adding that he was surprised again Thursday. “I was shocked. I’m still shocked.”

While there is speculation about whether Smallbone will show up for court next week, he told a Wyoming district court judge he would in a letter begging for his $250,000 bond to be reduced or to be let out on his own recognizance.

“I am writing to respectfully request a reconsideration of my bond conditions in light of recent developments that have significantly affected my family’s situation,” he says in a handwritten letter dated June 18.

The letter was written six days before someone walked in with $250,000 cash to bond him out of jail.

“I understand the seriousness of my circumstances, but I ask you to take into account the following factors as you consider my request,” Smallbone wrote.

Those include the potential to lose his family’s home at a time when his wife is suffering PTSD because of his prosecution.

He also wrote that being incarcerated is “jeopardizing my business, which is crucial for supporting my family. Losing my business would exacerbate our financial and emotional stress.”

“Personal safety concerns” is another reason, he wrote. “My wife and I have received specific death threats, creating a climate of fear and anxiety that affects our daily lives.

[{"type":"text","text":"“This environment is not cooperating with legals proceedings.”"}]

Smallbone also specifically highlights his “willingness to comply” and that he was “fully prepared to adhere to any conditions set forth by the court.”

He apparently wasn’t, Walsh noted, because he was wanted on the fugitive warrant because “he did violate terms of his bond.”

In a short response to Smallbone’s letter, Judge Scott Peasley said communicating directly with the judge in his case is improper and he won’t consider it.

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

[{"type":"text","text":"The list of charges against Smallbone is long, including:"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"• 1 count of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"• 36 counts of possessing child pornography."}]

• 16 counts of using a video camera to record intimate areas of another person without consent.

• 18 counts of knowingly manufacturing, generating, or creating child pornography.

[{"type":"text","text":"• 1 count of possessing more than 3 ounces of marijuana (1.3 pounds)."}]

He landed on the radar of the Converse County Sheriff’s Office after the mother of an underage girl reported concerning interactions her daughter had with Smallbone on May 9.

The girl was in a vehicle with Smallbone and others when he allegedly typed “if you suck me, I’ll lick you” on his phone and showed it to the girl, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Lt. Benjamin K.P. Peech of the Converse County Sheriff’s Office.

“He also mouthed the words, ‘I want to see you naked,’” the affidavit says.

Smallbone later denied mouthing anything or showing the girl any messages.

That, along with other alleged disturbing interactions with the girl at Smallbone’s home that evening, started an investigation that revealed a trove of photos, videos and other child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his electronic devices, the affidavit says.

The investigation also showed Smallbone had been convicted in 2002 of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust in Douglas County, Colorado.

He also had registered as a sex offender in Wyoming in 2014, but it was “later determined not to be required to register in Wyoming due to him being a juvenile at the time of his adjudication in Colorado,” according to the affidavit.

That was in reference to a 2001 case when Smallbone was 12 and was accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl, the affidavit says.

While in treatment for that incident, he disclosed he also had sexual contact with at least seven other children, and five were younger than him at the time of the sexual contact.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What Investigators Found"}]

The case against Smallbone exploded when forensic examinations were performed on his cellphone and electronic devices, according to the affidavit.

On them, they found dozens of images and videos depicting prepubescent girls and boys performing a wide range of sex acts, the affidavit says. Many of the videos appear to have been created by Smallbone in rooms and spaces that are identifiable to alleged potential victims.

There also were videos of Smallbone having sex with an adult female, the affidavit says, adding that the woman told investigators she had no knowledge she was on camera.

The most disturbing allegations stem from a series of at least seven videos that the affidavit reports allegedly show a young girl having her pants pulled down and being subjected to having sex with a dog.

Along with the CSAM, investigators say they found “records indicating (his phone) had been used to connect to the Tor Browser, which is commonly used by subjects accessing CSAM to communicate within the Dark Web anonymously,” the affidavit says.

If convicted with maximum concurrent sentences, Smallbone could face up to 791 years in prison and fines of up to $710,000.

The most serious is the sexual abuse of a minor charge, which calls for a sentence of between 25 and 50 years.

John Smallbone 7 24 26

<title>Colorado Court Releases Wyoming Man Wanted On 72 Child Sex Abuse Charges | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Douglas man wanted on 72 felony charges alleging sex abuse of minors was released on his own accord by a Colorado court Thursday instead of being held for Wyoming authorities. “We’re out looking for him again,” said the Converse County undersheriff.

Colorado Court Releases Wyoming Man Wanted On 72 Child Sex Abuse Charges

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Politics

Government & Politics

A Republican U.S. House candidate debate Thursday night in Casper featured both direct and subtle jabs, recurring speech patterns, bragging points and just a couple moderator interventions.

Nine candidates are running to win the GOP nomination to Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat at the Aug. 18 primary election. 

Eight of those – not Keith Goodenough – answered questions Thursday night at Casper College in a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Wyoming, WyoFile, and Wyoming Public Media.  

The eight attending were: Philanthropist Steve Friess, Secretary of State Chuck Gray, state Senate President Bo Biteman, veteran and former congressional staffer David Giralt, veteran and former High Plains-District BLM leader Kevin Christensen, actor and singer Richard Dodson, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, and Casper businessman Reid Rasner.

Friess in his closing statements asserted the race is actually between two people.

His campaign spokesman Tim Edson confirmed Friday that Friess was talking about himself and Gray.

"Our internal polling shows it is now a two-person race between Steve Friess and Chuck Gray - tied at 16%, with the rest of the field lagging behind," wrote Edson. "Despite 100% name awareness, Chuck struggles to get above 20% in his own polling -- because his unfavorable ratings are astronomically high. Steve Friess is now tied with Chuck Gray, has the momentum, and will overtake him by August 18th."  

[{"type":"text","text":"Friess noted that a candidate was missing from the stage that night."}]

Teton County-based attorney Frank Chapman dropped out of the race that morning, casting it as a waste of multiple people’s money for him to continue in a race with so much “clutter.”

“I believe that’s because he’s been looking at the same polling I’ve seen,” said Friess, “which really shows that this is now a two-man race. The polling shows it quite clearly.”

Rasner apparently disagreed, proclaiming himself the winner of the debate in a Thursday announcement. 

Friess leveled a subtle jab at career politicians and said, “We need someone with a businessman’s point of view who will solve problems in Washington, and not a career politician.”

With Chapman’s departure, Friess is now among three candidates, with Gray and Rasner, who have loaned more than $1 million to their own campaigns.

[{"type":"text","text":"Other candidates derided the practice."}]

The candidates with war chests under $200,000 as of July 1 - Christensen, Dodson, Giralt, Balow, and Biteman – all placed the emphasis on connecting with the people rather than pouring money into the race.

Rasner, who’s loaned himself at least $1.7 million and spent around $2 million, pointed to the individual contributions he’s also won across Wyoming. As of July 1 his campaign showed nearly $320,000 in individual contributions. 

Friess has the most financial momentum. He acknowledged he’s self-loaned considerable sums – at least $2 million as of July 1 – but has also raised over $400,000 from individual contributors.

He said he raised that money because he cares deeply about the opportunity to serve the state and would ban stock trading in Washington, D.C.

“I’m not going there to get more money. I’m going there because it’s an opportunity to serve,” said Friess. “Our family’s had a tradition of doing so.”

In response to Friess's claim and polling numbers, Gray said Friday: that Friess "thinks he can trick Wyoming from Jackson" and "can pretend this is a two-person race if he wants."

Friess lives in Jackson, as did his late father Foster Friess, who lost in a three-way race to Gov. Mark Gordon in the latter's first run for the seat in 2018. 

"Wyoming Republicans know better," said Gray, noting that nine candidates remain in the GOP primary and many have spent years serving Wyoming. 

Friess has not held legislative or statewide office in Wyoming. He’s cast himself as a political outsider in the race. He has pointed to his unorthodox political efforts, such as his family seed-funding Charlie Kirk's group Turning Point USA, and what he's called his work helping to furnish President Donald Trump with proposed executive orders ahead of Trump's first term. 

Gray said voters will decide the election, made a reference to "Friess' false keystrokes from his computer in Jackson" and called him out of touch. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Please Don’t"}]

In opening the forum Thursday, WyoFile executive editor Matt Copeland warned all participants they could face removal if they weren’t respectful and courteous, and if they personally attacked or sparred directly with the other candidates.

One introductory prompt and two questions later, Copeland warned Gray for breaking the rules.

Gray attacked both WyoFile and Rasner, claiming WyoFile “has millions of false attacks” on its website over the years and Rasner “has put thousands of dollars of false attacks” against him.”

“But like President Trump –“ Gray continued, then Copeland cut him off.

“Mr. Gray. Please don’t address your fellow candidates,” said Copeland.

Gray pressed on, saying, “I’m not spending as much as Mr. Friess over there with the Jackson element …"

[{"type":"text","text":"Again Copeland intervened with a warning."}]

“But I am going to spend to take on the radical media and the insiders,” Gray said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Boos sounded from the audience."}]

Copeland in a brief Friday phone interview denied both the “insider” charge and the false reporting charge.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Absolutely not,” he said of the latter claim."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Media, Insiders"}]

The media and an unspecified group of “insiders” dominated many of Gray’s points that night.

He used either the word “insider” or “insiders” 12 times, though one was a specific reference to the problem of insider trading in Congress. He used the word “media” nine times.

He used the term “track record” eight times, referencing his work in state government.

[{"type":"text","text":"Rasner picked up on the trend and fired back at Gray."}]

“Cheyenne and Washington, D.C., are full of politicians with a proven track record,” said Rasner in his closing speech. “A proven track record in Cheyenne or D.C. means nothing. I have a proven track record in Wyoming, in business. Of signing both sides of the checks.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Rasner runs Casper-based financial advisor business Omnivest Financial."}]

While Rasner was more subtle than Gray and was not warned for civility, he did take another oblique shot, referencing occasions when a state land management board voted – as did Gray – in favor of leasing state public lands to wind farms.

Gray repeatedly derides wind power as “woke” and wrong for Wyoming, and after his three “aye" votes, he became one of the state’s most vocal critics against two bigger, foreign-backed wind projects on state lands.

[{"type":"text","text":"Workhorse, Roots"}]

Biteman’s go-to term was “work,” which recurred in his points at least seven times.

He pointed to his decade in the state Legislature and term as Senate president, as well as his career as a landman.

“I’m a workhorse, not a show horse. I’m not going to Congress to be famous, to get on Fox News or to shoot off press releases every day,” said Biteman.

Balow pointed to her Wyoming roots and upbringing, her earlier work with the late U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, and how she handled Wyoming’s schools during COVID.

Christensen was the only candidate who wanted to reform, rather than rescind, the Clinton-era Roadless Rule for public lands.

Everyone proposed means, some varying, for rescuing the Social Security system.

Gray friess 7 24 26

U.S. House candidate Steve Friess concluded the Thursday-night debate by saying polling shows the Wyoming GOP race is really between two people — himself and Chuck Gray. "[Gray's] unfavorable ratings are astronomically high," a campaign spokesman said.

Daily Darwin: Saturday, October 14, 2023

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