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

<title>You Still Here? Sunday, November 19, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

You Still Here? Sunday, November 19, 2023

 Just in time for Thanksgiving, a new recipe! Alternative title: Some people should be banned from cooking...

Julie Mankin

Native American Tribes

When the Indian relay races return to the Sheridan WYO Rodeo next month, it will be without the event's longtime announcer of the past 30 years, who quit over an interaction with local law enforcement he claims had "racist overtones."

Kennard Real Bird said he will not return as announcer after the rodeo's directors declined to stand behind him and call out the Sheridan County Sheriff's Office for what Real Bird claims was inappropriate treatment of him after a 2025 arrest.

“I just had an issue with local law enforcement,” said Real Bird, an artist whose 2011 painting "Crow War Pony" hangs in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. “I live on an island, so to speak, here on the reservation, and we don’t encounter racism here on a daily basis.”

"As a result of this incident with racist overtones, I decided to not go back for any further humiliation by the Sheridan community," he adds in a June 19 Facebook post about the interactions.

Real Bird, 76, of the Crow Reservation in southeastern Montana, began calling Sheridan’s Indian relay races with his own brand of politically incorrect but engaging humor when the races were added to the rodeo in 1997. 

Real Bird told Cowboy State Daily he isn't retiring. He plans to call Indian relay races this summer at Cheyenne Frontier Days — which just added the event on both weekends — and at Wyoming Downs, plus rodeos in North Dakota, Montana and Alberta. 

In September, Real Bird will announce the 10th annual Championship of Champions, a three-day event held for the first time at Cheyenne’s Frontier Park.

[{"type":"text","text":"But he won't be in Sheridan."}]

“I’ve been in a grieving period knowing I’m not going back to Sheridan,” Real Bird said. “I love that audience — their love for the sport and the respect they give the Indian kids.”

[{"type":"text","text":"'Insulted An Humilitated'"}]

Real Bird said he was pulled over in July 2025 by the Wyoming Highway Patrol leaving the rodeo over a bench warrant for his arrest based on an unpaid 2018 speeding ticket. 

He said paid the ticket in 2022, when while attempting to renew his Montana driver’s license he was told by his DMV the Wyoming fine must be paid first.

“I paid it electronically,” he said. “A couple of days later, I went back to the DMV and they said, ‘OK, Wyoming has released your hold because you paid the fine.’ And they renewed my license.”

Nevertheless, Real Bird said he was handcuffed and taken to the Sheridan County Detention Center, where he was “insulted and humiliated” when stripped of his belt and boots and handcuffed to a counter.

“I asked, ‘Is this necessary?’” he recalled. “I’m 76 years old. I’ve been sober 49 years of my life. I was not a flight risk or a threat. I don’t know why they would want to treat me like that, other than me being an Indian.”

Deputy Dillon Buckmeier of the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Department said it's the same standard procedure for all bookings.

“We do a pat-down, take a photo, put them in a changing room to remove clothes, which we search, and we cuff them to a chair or the counter while they’re booked,” Buckmeier told Cowboy State Daily. “It’s safer if they’re secured.”

It was the second time in recent years an incident in Sheridan offended Real Bird, he said.

For decades, the former bronc rider, who still raises bucking horses, would make his way down behind the chutes to watch the rodeo’s bronc riding. One time, he had his young grandsons in tow. 

PRCA rules forbid kids behind the chutes, so security removed the Real Bird family.

Sheridan WYO Rodeo Executive Director Zane Garstad and WYO Indian Relay Director Jess Sams talked Real Bird into returning to keep announcing the races after that. 

And Sams asked him to return in 2026 as well, telling Real Bird the rodeo board doesn't get involved in what happens outside the fairgrounds. 

[{"type":"text","text":"'He's One Of A Kind'"}]

Real Bird's successor announcing the Indian races at the WYO Rodeo will be Randy Taylor, a University of Wyoming graduate and former National Finals Rodeo bareback rider of Cherokee descent. 

Taylor has known Real Bird since he was invited to Montana by the Crow Tribe to ride bucking horses and put up teepees in the 1980s.

“Indian relay is our country’s original extreme sport,” Taylor said. “Kennard’s family has been riding, raiding or bucking horses for 400 years. When the board asked me to do the job, I called Kennard first. I wanted his blessing and received it. 

"I’ll try to follow his path, but I’m not able to fill his moccasins. He’s one of a kind.”

Garstad said in a recent statement about Taylor that the WYO’s growth is largely due to Real Bird’s contributions.

Garstad pointed out the community continues to invest annually in the Indian Village and First Peoples’ Pow Wow. And Isabella Yellowtail, this year’s Miss Sheridan WYO Rodeo, is the second queen to hail from the Crow Reservation and first since Lucy Yellow Mule in 1951.

Sams said Real Bird will always have a home at the Sheridan WYO, and Real Bird said he remains fond of the event. Aware of rumors that some Indian relay teams might boycott because of his departure, Real Bird discourages the idea.

“Sheridan is one of the greatest places for Indian relay,” he said. “The athleticism and choreography are amazing. In the 1990s, a lot of the Indians were boozed up and not worthy. I wanted Native American teams to gain some respect. Over the years, we’ve developed professionalism. 

"I wanted to be part of that voice to elevate their stature. That’s what I think I did.”

[{"type":"text","text":"But he is standing firm on not returning."}]

“All I wanted was the board to stand behind me,” he said. “If they’re not willing to upset the law enforcement community, then I’m not willing to go back.

“I feel I’m justified in not going back. But I’m not putting a blanket indictment on the community of Sheridan. I just wanted the board whom I’ve dealt with for 30 years to have said, ‘Wait a minute, Mr. Law Enforcement, it wasn’t right what you did to Mr. Real Bird. He’s a valuable member of our community.'”

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<title>Longtime Voice Of Sheridan Indian Relay Quits Over Traffic Stop With 'Racist Overtones' | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The longtime voice of the Sheridan Indian Relay Races has quit over an interaction with law enforcement he claims had "racist overtones." He said the decision to not return was because the rodeo's board didn't stand behind him and condemn his treatment.

Longtime Voice Of Sheridan Indian Relay Quits Over Traffic Stop With 'Racist Overtones'

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Wildlife

A 12-year-old was taken to an area hospital after being hurt by a bison Friday near Mud Volcano, which is just north of Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone National Park.

The National Park Service announced the incident in a statement, but did not reveal much information, including the child’s gender, the extent of the injuries or what led up to the child’s altercation with the bison.

The incident happened at about 9:15 a.m., the agency reports.

“The visitor sustained injuries, and emergency medical personnel transported them to a nearby hospital,” according to the NPS statement. “The incident remains under investigation."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Watch For The Tail Raise"}]

Biologist George Wuerthner told Cowboy State Daily that bison frequently signal irritation with body language, specifically “if they stick their tail up in the air.”

“That’s how they indicate to the herd that something is wrong,” he said, adding that it’s similar to white-tailed deer raising their tails to signal danger.

As to what might have caused the bison to attack the child, Wuerthner said that without a detailed account of the incident, that could be difficult to determine.

“The usual thing is people getting too close” to bison, said Wuerthner, who has worked in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem for decades and is president of the Montana Wild Bison Coalition.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Not Cattle"}]

Yellowstone bison are used to having crowds around them, so they might seem somewhat complacent around people, but park visitors shouldn’t take that for granted, Wuerthner said.

“People tend to think of them like cattle,” he said. "But then again, cattle hurt people too, so that’s not a good assumption to make."

According to park rules, people should stay back at least 100 yards from wolves and bears, and 25 yards away from other wildlife, including bison.

Frequent Yellowstone visitor and wildlife photographer April Holm told Cowboy State Daily that she’d previously seen some spooky bison activity in the same general area where the child was reportedly injured.

A couple of weeks ago “we saw a very spicy bison, and a guy almost got gored by him,” she stated in a text message.

“I wonder if it’s the same one (bison),” she added. "I don’t know exactly where the kid got hurt, so I’m not saying it’s the same one.”

Bison sign 6 3 24

<title>12-Year-Old Visitor Hurt By Yellowstone Bison, Sent To Hospital | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 12-year-old was taken to an area hospital Friday after being hurt by a bison just north of Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone National Park. This is the first recorded bison attack in Yellowstone of the year.

12-Year-Old Visitor Hurt By Yellowstone Bison, Sent To Hospital

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

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

Courts

A 41-year-old Cody woman who was arrested Wednesday after a 

 with local police was allegedly taking a haul of collectible coins and firearms from the house of her late grandparents.

Dawn Blaylock had her first appearance in Cody Circuit Court on Friday, and charged with felony aggravated burglary, criminal trespass, interference with a peace officer, reckless endangerment and property damage.

The standoff was the culmination of a monthslong family dispute over a trust created to handle the estate of a family member, says an affidavit of probable cause written by Cody Police Detective Tyler Eubanks.

Another family member has control of the trust, but Blaylock claimed she was the legal owner of the coins and firearms, and that they were stolen from her. So, she was taking them back when confronted in the home by the Cody Police Department.

“Dawn claimed that the guns, coins and other valuable pieces within the home were stolen from her,” Eubanks wrote.

She also admitted using a rock to break a window to get into the house on Wednesday, the affidavit says.

On Thursday, Blaylock’s vehicle was searched, which was still at the home of the late family members, where police found a cache of weapons and other valuable items. Those include:

• A Winchester Model 101 over/under shotgun with three barrel assemblies.

[{"type":"text","text":"• The frame of a 1911 handgun."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"• More than 1,000 rounds of ammunition."}]

“Officers found hundreds of dollars in coins also,” the affidavit says, adding there also were “more than 100 coins in protective plastic and paper cases which appeared as if they were valuable.”

Some of the items found in her vehicle “were identical” to things the family member in charge of the trust had documented as having been taken more than a week prior.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘I Don’t Want To Answer That Right Now’"}]

Along with aggravated burglary, which is an elevated charge because she used a weapon during the standoff, Blaylock also was found in possession of suspected illegal drugs, the affidavit says.

“I asked Dawn what she was doing before she went to the house,” Eubanks wrote. “Dawn stated she was drinking and smoking a bowl, which I knew is a slang phrase for smoking marijuana.”

When asked if she smoked any drugs other than marijuana, Blaylock hesitated.

“Yeah, I don’t want to answer that right now,” she said, according to the affidavit. “I don’t want to stay in this jail any longer than I have to. I’d like to talk to a lawyer before I talk to anyone.

“I want to help you; can I say that first and foremost. I want to tell you everything that I know … but I don’t want to screw me so much that I can’t ever get out of here to see my kids again. Does that make sense?”

Blaylock landed on the CPD’s radar about three weeks earlier when the family member reported that trust assets were being illegally disposed of by Blaylock, the affidavit says.

He reported that she had allegedly been selling and pawning coins and firearms that were owned by her late grandfather, but that he was the only person legally able to dispose of the property under the trust.

“Over the course of the next couple weeks, (the man) had begun tracking down the property which Dawn had given away or sold,” the affidavit says. “These items are assets of the trust and were stored in the residence.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Standoff"}]

It was 1:20 p.m. Wednesday when the CPD alerted area residents of an active law-enforcement situation in the 700 block of Meadow Lane Avenue near the Olive Glenn Golf Course, police report.

Several streets in the area were blocked by vehicles from multiple responding law enforcement agencies, including the CPD’s ballistic armored tactical transport vehicle, or “bearcat.”

When officers arrived at the house, they observed a broken window and a large rock about 3 feet away, the affidavit says.

[{"type":"text","text":"When they entered the house, Blaylock was located in the master bathroom."}]

“Dawn expressed she was armed and refused to come out,” Eubanks wrote. “Law enforcement used a remote camera to look under the door and verified Dawn did have a firearm.”

She was advised “multiple times” she was under arrest, and was ultimately taken into custody after about four hours of negotiations.

After that is when the family member in charge of the trust was able to get into the house and verify missing items, including collectible coins, a statue of a puma, and about 20 firearms.

If convicted of the most serious charge, the felony aggravated burglary, Blaylock could get between five and 25 years in prison, a fine of up to $50,000, or both.

At her initial court appearance Friday, a preliminary hearing on her charges was set for July 6.

Standoff 2 6 24 26

<title>Police Say Cody Woman In Four-Hour Standoff Was Taking Coins, Guns From Home | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Cody woman in a four-hour standoff Wednesday was allegedly taking collectible coins and firearms from the house of her late grandparents, police say. She “claimed that the guns, coins and other valuable pieces were stolen from her,” the CPD reports.

Police Say Cody Woman In Four-Hour Standoff Was Taking Coins, Guns From Home

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

CASPER — More than a year after a masked confrontation at a local apartment erupted into a 

, prosecutors allege the woman who drove three people to the scene knew what was about to happen.

Nevaeh Marie Neemann, 22, has been charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and accessory before the fact to aggravated assault for her alleged role in the May 11, 2025, shooting at the Foxhill Apartments.

The shooting left 20-year-old Anicio Bernard dead and 20-year-old Colton Robb critically wounded.

Investigators say Robb was targeted because Neemann's boyfriend, Jadin Triplett, believed he had stolen his Glock 26 handgun.

Neemann was arrested this week and made her initial appearance Thursday in Natrona County Circuit Court before Judge Cynthia Sweet. 

A 14-page probable cause affidavit filed by Casper Police Sgt. Andrea Husted paints a detailed picture of months of investigation involving cellphone downloads, Facebook messages, recorded conversations and witness interviews.

Investigators allege Neemann wasn't simply behind the wheel — she knowingly helped carry out a plan that spiraled into a fatal gunfight.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Something Bad ...'"}]

The affidavit shows that Triplett believed Robb had stolen his Glock after visiting the apartment Triplett shared with Neemann in early May 2025.

Rather than reporting the firearm stolen, investigators say Triplett set out to recover it himself.

Triplett posted on Facebook offering $500 for information leading to the gun's return and exchanged messages with friends about confronting Robb.

Detectives also recovered messages showing Bernard asking Triplett whether he had an extra ski mask hours before the shooting.

Investigators say the plan evolved into confronting Robb at the Foxhill Apartments, where he had been staying with relatives.

Neemann admitted driving Bernard, Triplett and Adriana Sanchez to the apartment complex.

Before arriving, she told detectives Bernard removed a pistol from a bag and tucked it into his waistband.

[{"type":"text","text":"She also admitted Triplett had a firearm with him."}]

As the group approached the building, Bernard and Triplett pulled ski masks over their faces.

Neemann told investigators she immediately realized "something bad was going to happen."

According to the affidavit, she understood the plan was for Bernard and Triplett to beat Robb up and recover Triplett's stolen handgun.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Give Me Your’ Stuff"}]

Investigators say Bernard chambered a round while walking toward the apartment.

After someone inside opened the door, Bernard immediately pointed his gun at Robb and yelled, "Give me your shit, give me all your shit."

Robb drew his own handgun, according to court records, and the two men exchanged gunfire inside the apartment.

Neemann told detectives Triplett also pointed a gun at Robb and attempted to fire, but it appeared to jam.

Bernard was struck during the exchange and staggered out of the apartment before collapsing on the stairs outside.

Neemann said she believed she watched Bernard take his last breath after he told the others to run.

Robb survived after suffering a gunshot wound that investigators say struck his heart and gallbladder, requiring emergency surgery before he was flown to Colorado for additional treatment.

The charging document shows nobody riding in Neemann's vehicle called 911.

Instead, investigators say Neemann drove Sanchez away before returning home with Triplett.

There, she told detectives they gathered Triplett's firearms and asked one of his coworkers to take possession of them because Triplett had become suicidal following the shooting.

[{"type":"text","text":"Police later recovered those weapons."}]

Investigators also searched Neemann's maroon Chevrolet Impala, where they found ammunition, magazines, and receipts for firearm-related purchases.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Digital Trail"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Much of the case relies on digital evidence gathered over the past year."}]

Detectives obtained search warrants for cellphones and reviewed Facebook Messenger conversations, FaceTime calls, GPS data and social media posts.

Among the evidence cited in the affidavit are messages showing Bernard and Triplett discussing getting the gun back, Bernard requesting an extra ski mask, and Bernard speaking with Robb just hours before the shooting.

Investigators say Bernard and Robb mentioned drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana together and a mutual friend's bond money during a FaceTime call shortly before the confrontation.

Police also reviewed recordings made after the shooting with participants discussing what had happened inside the apartment.

One recording captured Triplett saying they knocked on the door; Bernard entered first and demanded property before gunfire erupted, according to court documents.

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

Nearly everyone interviewed agreed on one point: Bernard entered the apartment wearing a ski mask.

[{"type":"text","text":"Beyond that, accounts differed."}]

Some witnesses told police they believed the group only intended to recover the stolen gun. Others described what sounded like an armed robbery after Bernard demanded Robb hand over all of his belongings.

[{"type":"text","text":"Triplett himself gave investigators multiple versions of events."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Initially, he insisted he never pulled the trigger."}]

Later, he admitted pointing his gun at Robb and attempting to fire before realizing the safety was still engaged.

He also acknowledged continuing with the plan after seeing Bernard armed because he didn't want to "be a bitch" or back out.

 with felony accessory before the fact to aggravated assault and battery in connection with the shooting. His case remains pending.

Based on interviews, cellphone evidence and Neemann's own statements, Sgt. Husted concluded there was probable cause to charge Neemann with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and accessory before the fact to aggravated assault.

Neeman will next appear in Circuit Court for a preliminary hearing within about 10 days. Judge Sweet set bond at $25,00 cash or surety. 

Nevaeh Marie Neemann 6 26 26

<title>Casper Woman Charged With Driving Getaway Car After Fatal Apartment Shooting | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Casper woman has been arrested and was in court Thursday, accused of driving the getaway car in an ambush-style apartment shooting more than a year ago that left one man dead. Police say she knew “something bad” was about to go down at the time.

Casper Woman Charged With Driving Getaway Car After Fatal Apartment Shooting

Prosecutors claim that a Fremont County BLM law enforcement officer accused of killing another man during a January bar fight didn’t act responsibly to protect others, and instead “advances like a predator” before applying a deadly chokehold.

That characterization of how Richard “Deak” Dollard acted on the evening of Jan. 9 during a brawl at the Maverick Bar in Lander is included in a Thursday prosecution response to a motion from Dollard’s attorney to dismiss the second-degree murder charge he faces.

The June 8 motion filed by Casper-based defense attorney Ryan Semerad argues Richard Dollard can’t be prosecuted “for his proper use of reasonable defensive force to protect others.”

Those others include Dollard’s brother, Justin, and nephew, Jesse, who were both involved in a physical fight with 38-year-old Evan Denevan.

Denevan was fighting with Justin when Richard came into the room and pulled Denevan off his brother, putting him in a restraining hold that prosecutors refer to as a “chokehold” in court documents, but the defense adamantly denies any choking pressure was applied.

What both sides seem to agree on is what was captured on multiple cellphone videos and bar surveillance is Richard holding Denevan around his face and neck area for about 30 seconds, then putting him on the floor.

He died at the scene, according to court documents.

In his motion to dismiss, Semerad argues that Denevan was the aggressor and that Richard acted calmly and with restraint to protect his brother and others from danger.

Only after someone at the bar called out multiple times for Denevan to stop “did Richard step in, taking hold of Evan to pull him away from Justin, the woman, and the crowd of bar patrons standing within punching distance,” the motion to dismiss says.

“I don’t believe my client was angry or emotional,” Semerad told Cowboy State Daily on Friday. “I think he saw the situation and his mentality was not anger or emotion, it was, ‘How do I protect everyone in this situation from being hurt.’”

That’s not what the evidence and witnesses show, prosecutors allege in their response.

“The defendant advances like a predator — he appears to know his goal when he enters the room and he advances unchecked upon the same,” according to the response. “He advances intentionally and deliberately.”

Semerad called the description of his client as a “predator” in the response as “pure rhetoric” and an attempt to “try to characterize this encounter” as something it wasn’t.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Reasonable Force’"}]

That Richard Dollard only applied a non-lethal hold on Denevan is clearly “not the case” based on video and other evidence, prosecutors say. Most notably, if the hold was non-lethal, why did he die?

“Although the defendant’s claim is that he gripped the decedent in a non-lethal hold meant to control the situation, the video makes it quite clear that this is not the case,” the response to the motion to dismiss says.

“The hold is lethal by self-definition of the circumstances,” the document adds.

Conversely, Semerad said it’s murky at best about what caused Denevan to die that night, as there were other potential health issues that may have contributed to his death.

“There seems to be some kind of disconnect” in what really caused his death, Semerad said. “He perceived the decedent attacking his brother … and there were people in harm’s way. 

“He came over to protect everybody with the use of reasonable force.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"That Night"}]

An evidentiary affidavit by a Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agent filed days after the incident in Lander Circuit Court describes a brawl which at one point contained eight to 10 people, unfolding at the Maverick Bar around 11 p.m. on Jan. 9.

A 911 caller beckoned Lander Police Department officers to the scene at around 11:15 p.m. 

The caller indicated “we have someone down at the Maverick Bar, he’s not breathing, he’s all purple,” says the affidavit.

LPD officers arrived and found Denevan lying on his back near the pool tables with bystanders trying to help him, the document says.

Officers began life-saving measures, but later noted that the man’s face was “slightly purple in color” and they weren’t able to find a carotid pulse. Fremont County emergency medical personnel arrived as well to help, but “Denevan was determined to be deceased,” says the affidavit.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"LPD secured the bar as a crime scene."}]

Initial witness statements reportedly describe a fight between Denevan and the three Dollard men.

Justin Dollard in his interview with LPD detectives confirmed he was involved in the fight.

Denevan had previously said he would “whip” Justin, the latter reportedly said, and had threatened to fight both Justin and Jesse Dollard.

Denevan had yelled at the Dollard father and son, “If you come over here, I will kick your ass,” the affidavit relates.

A Lander man facing a second-degree murder charge for a fatal January bar brawl wants the charge dismissed, saying he used “reasonable” force. Prosecutors disagree, saying he “advances like a predator” on the victim in a Thursday response.

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