You Still Here

No idea what they're saying here. Except you can never go wrong with carbonated drinks and Mentos....

You still here 4 12 24

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

<title>You Still Here? Friday, April 12, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

You Still Here? Friday, April 12, 2024

 No idea what they're saying here. Except you can never go wrong with carbonated drinks and Mentos....

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Jackie Dorothy.

Jackie Dorothy

Around Wyoming

 overnight in the Wyoming Territory with canvas tents, sectional housing and buildings on wheels. It was July 1868 and the town “bred by the devil” was ready for business.

“There are perhaps, three thousand people in and around Benton,” brothers Legh and Fred Freeman wrote in the Aug. 11, 1868, Frontier Index newspaper. “To give an idea of the on-wheels movement we will mention that the office of Wells, Fargo & Co., torn down at Laramie three days before, had its sectioned shingle roof on, and stage business resumed in it that night.”

The Frontier Index, known as the “Press on Wheels,” was also a 

 business that published its paper in these overnight towns.

“Business was so lively that we telegraphed the Laramie editor of our paper, to wheel on at once to Benton,” the Freeman brothers wrote. “We since learn that our new power press is threshing out the work there.”

Benton was an end-of-track town on the construction front of the Union Pacific Railroad, about 12 miles east of present-day Rawlins and just west of present-day Fort Fred Steele.

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

 the worst of these Hell’s Tent Towns, with claims that 100 men had been murdered there in its short lifetime. Their reputation as a home to “bawdy women and swindlers” was earned when visitors passed through and were shocked by what they saw.

According to historians Mary Lou Pence and Lola M. Homsher, co-authors of “The Ghost Towns of Wyoming,” one 

 that portrayed Benton’s devilishness had been a misunderstanding.

Water for this new town was one of its most valuable commodities. It had to be carted by team and tank from the North Platte River two miles away. The water hauler charged an exorbitant 

Seeing a new way to advertise, a whiskey distiller paid the hauler to paste large billboards on each side of his tank that read "Tanglefoot Whisky."

A Mormon woman soon arrived by train and was waiting for a stagecoach for the next leg of her trip to Brigham's Temple. When she saw the poster-plastered wagon and women rushing from their doors with pails in hands, Pence and Homsher said she became  indignant.

 woman said. “They're buying whisky by the bucketsful!"

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Grant & Buffalo Bill Campaign"}]

To add to Benton’s reputation, even future presidents visited the tent town. Ulyssis S. Grant arrived with Buffalo Bill Cody. The Republican candidate was said to have given a stump speech at Benton to an eclectic group of people, ranging from gentlemen to railroad laborers. 

The Freeman brothers were heavily Democratic and former Confederate soldiers so the story they ran in the Aug.11, 1868, Frontier Index was a satirical attack on Grant and Buffalo Bill.

“When Useless Slaughter Grant was at Benton the other night, Buffalo Bill mounted a dry goods box at a street corner and returned thanks to the people for the splendid ovation (that was not) given the military commander in chief,” they wrote.

The editors claimed Buffalo Bill then auctioned off an old watch to pay for Grant's expenses on his campaign in Wyoming. Otherwise, Grant would be forced to “bum” his way back to Washington, D.C.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Mundane Shootings"}]

In the same paper, when the Freeman brothers shared the local gossip, usually reserved for such tidbits as who had arrived in town or who was engaging in business, the story was about the latest shootings. This time Brownsville, a construction camp not far from Benton, was the scene of several murders.   

— a criminal offense involving at least two people —

 occurred on the streets between two men employed in Creighton's telegraph outfit, the Freeman brothers reported. 

[{"type":"text","text":"As the story goes:"}]

“They had been throwing dice for a pistol, when they became dissatisfied, and the person who owned the pistol — James Williams — refused to give up the money received, which led to a difficulty in which he was shot and supposed mortally wounded. The murderer has escaped.

"A man, named John Wood, accidentally shot himself on Sunday morning while drawing his pistol to shoot a man in a gambling house. He is now in the hospital and is doing well.

"Mike Meehan was shot by a ranchman near Reynolds & Dowling's grading camp, about eight miles from Brownsville. 

"The cause of the affair was, the graders were on a strike, and passed an order amongst themselves that any ranchman who would interfere with their strike or sell liquor to drunken men, they would clean out, and after giving them warning, they still sold liquor to the men, when the graders turned out and demolished some fourteen saloons. 

"During the row, Michael Meehan was shot and instantly killed. The ranchman delivered himself up to the military authorities at Fort Steele."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Rise and Fall of Benton"}]

During its short existence, 200 framed tents and portable buildings had been erected, lots sold to the highest bidder, from $800 to $1,000, and dusty streets laid out. Benton was plotted into five wards and a mayor and one alderman from each ward had been appointed.

might become a more permanent town. A forwarding house was even established to take advantage of the active business taking place.

The most prominent building was described by Pence and Homsher as an immense canvas tent lit by imported chandeliers.

“An immense plate-glass mirror behind the corner bar reflected a strange hubbub of humanity,” Pence and Homsher wrote. “Pistol-packing mamas; lace-gowned and French-heeled dancing damsels; plaid-vested and fob-twisting come-on spielers; campaign-uniformed Indian fighters; corduroyed and buckskinned freighters; bow-tied and velvet-coated dude dandies — all taking chances with fate.”

The historians claimed  more than once during his night shift an overworked barkeep would have to change into another clean white coat to be rid of spatters of beer, bullets or blood.

By September 1868, the railroad had moved on, and so did nearly everyone else. 

The depot was moved east three miles to Fort Steele and Rawlins was designated a rail terminal. Pence and Homsher said that as tents were erected in the new town of Rawlins, former Benton residents were hesitant to buy lots and be fooled again into spending money on real estate that would not last.

Benton only existed for three months before the town was dismantled and it became one of Wyoming’s most infamous ghost towns.

Benton 1 Benton A C Hull Photo 7 5 26

<title>Wyoming History: 100 Murders In 3 Months, Lawless Benton Was ‘Bred By The Devil’ | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Of the Wyoming Territory towns that arrived on wheels along the Union Pacific Railroad, none were as tawdry, bawdry and lawless as Benton, which witnessed as many as 100 murders in its three-month lifespan. Benton, it was said, was "bred by the devil."

Wyoming History: 100 Murders In 3 Months, Lawless Benton Was ‘Bred By The Devil’

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Wyoming Life

[{"type":"text","text":"Some people buy old work vans because they're practical."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Parker Williams bought one because he wanted to turn it into a giant dog."}]

The 20-year-old Powell resident was scrolling through ideas one day when inspiration struck — "randomly," he told Cowboy State Daily. 

His favorite movie has always been the 1993 comedy "Dumb and Dumber," starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. More specifically, he's always loved the hopelessly optimistic duo of Lloyd Christmas (Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Daniels).

"I wanted to make something outstanding," Williams said. "Something affordable and cool."

So why not recreate one of the most recognizable movie vehicles ever built?

He found an old electrical van "for cheap," recruited his best friend Seth Siebert, and over about three days transformed the $3,000 van into a shaggy, four-legged tribute to the 1994 comedy.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Built For Laughs"}]

Williams spends much of his free time filming YouTube videos with friends. The van was simply another ambitious project for 

Building it, he said, was more complicated than he expected.

[{"type":"text","text":"The hardest part was making the giant dog roadworthy."}]

The pair spent hours wiring custom headlights and blinkers so it could legally travel Wyoming roads.

"It took way more carpet than I thought," Williams said with a laugh. 

Constructing the oversized nose was a challenge, too. Hidden beneath the carpet is a framework built from 2x4s and plywood.

After finishing, Williams even drove it to the Powell Police Department, where officers conducted an inspection.

[{"type":"text","text":"He says it passed, and the furry creation is completely street legal."}]

Somewhat disappointingly, Williams added, he still hasn't been pulled over.

The Mutt Cutts van earned its place in movie history when Christmas and Dunne are pulled over because a state trooper suspects they've been drinking while driving.

Trying to be helpful, Lloyd hands the officer what he thinks is an open beer. Instead, it's a bottle containing Harry's urine, which Harry had been saving because they had been driving long stretches without stopping.

The trooper takes a swig before realizing what it is, spits it out, and — so disgusted — lets the pair go without pursuing the stop further.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Instant Celebrity"}]

"It gets every reaction possible," Williams said. Most are overwhelmingly positive.

Everywhere he goes, strangers stop him for photos, ask questions and smile.

Williams recently drove it as far as Minnesota for a CboysTV car show, where it drew crowds despite sharing space with far more expensive builds.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"My mother is not super fond of it,\" he joked."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The biggest issue, he explained, isn't the attention."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It's really just having it in her garage all the time,” he said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Bad weather presents another challenge."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"An 8,000-pound carpeted dog doesn't perform well when wet. "}]

Williams recalled getting the van hopelessly stuck before spending hours cleaning off the mud.

"I basically had to shampoo the whole thing," he said. "It was a nightmare."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Best Friends"}]

When Williams first pitched the idea roughly two years ago, his best friend didn't hesitate.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Sure, sounds fun,\" Siebert remembers saying. "}]

The two had recently graduated from high school and were simply looking for something memorable to do.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Parker is about as good a friend as you can have,\" Siebert said."}]

When they aren't filming YouTube videos, the pair likes working on trucks, mudding in the woods and dreaming up their next adventure.

Siebert has been tinkering in garages for as long as he can remember, helping his father with projects.

[{"type":"text","text":"Mechanics, he said, remain more of a hobby than anything else."}]

Helping build a giant dog just happened to be one of the more unusual ones.

Siebert says some of his favorite moments have come while pulling through McDonald's drive-thrus.

"It's just cool seeing people's reactions," he said. "Them just working a normal shift and seeing some big dog come through."

[{"type":"text","text":"The friends are already brainstorming their next outrageous project."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Whatever it is, Siebert doubts the Mutt Cutts van is going anywhere."}]

He figures it's destined to remain exactly where it spends much of its downtime today.

[{"type":"text","text":"Parker's mother's garage."}]

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

[{"type":"text","text":"For Wyoming movie lover Kelly Eastes, none of this is surprising."}]

Eastes serves as Film Casper liaison for Visit Casper, helping connect filmmakers with locations, local resources and production support throughout central Wyoming. 

[{"type":"text","text":"He remembers \"Dumb and Dumber\" well."}]

"It seems like comedies are rarer nowadays," Eastes said. "It would be nice to have more of them."

Directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly, the film debuted at No. 1 at the North American box office during its opening weekend and eventually earned nearly $250 million worldwide, becoming one of the defining comedies of the '90s.

More than 30 years later, Eastes believes the film continues to resonate because good stories outlive generations.

"They resonate because multiple generations understand them," he said. "I believe that the way we connect, even generationally, is through stories and films. Storytelling has been our way of educating the youth for as long as we've been on the planet."

That's why he isn't surprised two young Wyoming men who weren't even born when the movie premiered would re-create one of its most recognizable props.

Along with a lot of mindless fun, the Mutt Cutts van project also has prompted Williams to do some deep soul searching.

After checking in on some of his high school classmates and what they're doing in their young adult lives, Williams compared those achievements to making a shaggy dog van.

“I don’t know if that means I’m majorly failing in life or I don’t have my priorities right," he mused in a YouTube video while building the van.

Mutt Cutts IMG 3999 7 5 26

<title>Powell Man Turns $3,000 Van Into ‘Dumb And Dumber’ Mutt Cutts Shaggin’ Wagon | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Powell man who built a "Dumb And Dumber" Mutt Cutts van replica with his best friend says it turns heads everywhere they drive it. Bad weather presents a challenge, he said. When the 8,000-pound carpeted dog got caught in the rain, he had to shampoo it. 

Powell Man Turns $3,000 Van Into ‘Dumb And Dumber’ Mutt Cutts Shaggin’ Wagon

Crime & Courts

CASPER — Thirteen years ago, James Pulver sat in a jail cell wondering whether his life was over.

At 24, he was facing federal kidnapping and domestic violence-related charges and staring at a $100,000 cash bond — an amount so far beyond his reach it may as well have been $1 million.

He remembers the clang of the steel doors, the uncertainty, and the crushing realization that he had no idea what happened next.

"You don't know anything," Pulver recalls "You don't know the process. You don't know the courts. You don't know what's coming."

Eventually, Pulver accepted a plea agreement, pleading no contest to misdemeanor domestic violence and misdemeanor theft after spending 367 days in the Fremont County Detention Center.

He still insists the most serious allegations against him weren't true, but says the experience permanently changed how he views people accused of crimes.

Today, when someone in Wyoming is arrested and their family doesn't know where to turn, there's a decent chance the phone rings on Pulver's desk.

[{"type":"text","text":"The irony isn't lost on him."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Before I was a bail bondsman,\" he said, \"I was an inmate.\""}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"More Than Bond"}]

Most people picture a bail bondsman as someone who signs paperwork, takes a fee and disappears.

Pulver, who lives in Casper, laughs at that; he said he believes his job is to guide defendants through one of the most frightening experiences of their lives.

[{"type":"text","text":"He said his sister calls him the \"bail bond doula.\""}]

His advice starts immediately. He tells his bondees: eat well, get sunlight, and stay sober. 

"You're already walking in there in shackles looking guilty," he said. "They're literally judging you."

Know your lawyer's phone number. Know your address before standing in front of a judge.

[{"type":"text","text":"Wear your nicest clothes."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Be clean-shaven."}]

Pulver tells clients they have an advantage once they're released on bond: they can prepare.

[{"type":"text","text":"Someone sitting in jail cannot."}]

"If you're out," he said, "you can do all these things that make you look better."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Freedom Business "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Pulver's work exists because of one uniquely American business model."}]

When a judge sets bail, defendants who can't afford to post the full amount often hire a commercial bail bondsman.

Typically, the defendant pays a nonrefundable premium — about 10% of the total bond — while the bondsman guarantees the full amount to the court.

[{"type":"text","text":"For a $10,000 bond, that usually means paying around $1,000."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The fee is never returned, but the real risk belongs to the bondsman. "}]

If the defendant disappears and fails to appear in court, the bondsman is on the hook for the entire bond.

[{"type":"text","text":"That's why Pulver almost never accepts a bond without collateral."}]

[{"type":"text","text":" \"Cars. Land. I'll take your parents' house,\" he says. "}]

Pulver says the collateral often tells a bigger story than the crime itself. When parents, spouses or siblings are willing to put their own home on the line, he sees more than financial security—he sees a support system.

Some defendants, he said, don't have that luxury. Years of addiction, broken promises or repeated arrests have left them with no one left to call. That's often when he knows the odds of success are much lower.

"The family is what they need," Pulver said. "That's who's going to help them the most."

It's also why he bristles when people assume bounty hunters spend their days chasing criminals for fun.

"My job isn't to catch bad guys," he said. "My job is to get them to court."

[{"type":"text","text":"\"All this chasing and kicking down doors — that's TV.\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Then he smiles."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"We're just trying to save our money.\""}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Waiting ..."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Pulver's first fugitive recovery began with a 16-hour drive to Texas."}]

A veteran bounty hunter named Craig Zibell had offered to teach him the business. Their first assignment was to find a Wyoming fugitive accused of stealing his father's pickup, driving it to Denver and boarding a plane south.

[{"type":"text","text":"Pulver had never tracked anyone previously."}]

By the time they reached Texas, he'd pieced together the man's whereabouts through Facebook posts and other online clues. The trail led them to an apartment complex.

[{"type":"text","text":"Then everything stopped."}]

For nearly three days, the pair sat in a truck watching a single apartment door.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"You don't move,\" Pulver said. \"You just sit there and stare.\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Food stayed in the cab. Bathroom breaks were carefully timed."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Hours slipped into days."}]

Pulver learned then and there that being a bounty hunter requires a lot of patience. 

[{"type":"text","text":"The stakeout eventually paid off."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The fugitive walked outside and the arrest happened without much drama."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Rolling Downhill"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Not every recovery ends quietly."}]

One fugitive had been repeatedly contacting a woman against orders.

Pulver and another recovery agent borrowed a vehicle and positioned themselves nearby, hoping the man would appear.

[{"type":"text","text":"Pulver sprinted toward him."}]

Instead of surrendering, the man — whom Pulver estimates weighed around 280 pounds — turned and threw a punch.

Within seconds, the two men were tumbling down a steep hillside in the dark.

"I grabbed him by the collar," Pulver recalled. "I made sure I landed 

[{"type":"text","text":"They rolled to the bottom still fighting."}]

Pulver eventually gained control long enough for his partner to help secure the arrest.

[{"type":"text","text":"The bruises lingered for weeks."}]

He still keeps photographs on his phone showing the deep purple marks stretching across his back.

[{"type":"text","text":"His wife later said, \"James, you've got to do things smarter.\" "}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'He's Got a Gun!' "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"No bond is worth someone getting killed” Pulver says. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The most dangerous recovery he remembers wasn't one he finished himself."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"It started with a runner who crossed state lines into rural Utah."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Pulver followed leads until local authorities became involved."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Then the operation exploded into helicopters circling overhead."}]

Drones launched, and a SWAT team appeared out of nowhere.  Armored vehicles rolled into position.

Pulver found himself standing at the command post listening to radio traffic alongside law enforcement officers.

[{"type":"text","text":"Then came the transmission:"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"He's got a gun! He's got a gun!\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"For several agonizing minutes, no one said anything."}]

Pulver remembers staring at the radios, wondering if someone had just been killed.

[{"type":"text","text":"Finally, another voice broke through."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"We got him.\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The suspects were taken into custody."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Half-Million-Dollar Gamble"}]

In 2020, Pulver agreed to post a $500,000 cash-or-surety bond for Danelle Moyte, a Cheyenne second-grade teacher charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of her boyfriend, Christopher Garcia.

A Casper bail bondsman has an unorthodox job that requires him to be part bounty hunter and part life counselor. And he can empathize with his clients. "Before I was a bail bondsman, I was an inmate," he said.

You Still Here? Friday, April 12, 2024

In case you missed it

More in You Still Here

Steve Inman: Sunday, July 5, 2026

You Still Here? Sunday, July 5, 2026

Bonus Video 1: Sunday, July 5, 2026

Bonus Video 2: Sunday, July 5, 2026

Most read