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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Native American Tribes

[{"type":"text","text":"Tribe Tells Christian Church To Leave Reservation; Church Says No "}]

Northern Arapaho Tribal leaders told a Christian pastor who said "a pipe cannot hear your prayers" to leave their reservation. The pastor said she's staying, and won't apologize for preaching from the Bible. 

The Northern Arapaho Tribe’s executive branch has asked a Christian church to leave the reservation, the tribe’s chair said Friday.

In response, Foundations for Nations pastor Sarah Lucas told Cowboy State Daily she and her family aren’t planning to leave yet. They’re looking to legal solutions to stay – and hoping for a “revival” in the meantime, Lucas said.

The church, which has operated in Fremont County for nine years, sits within the borders of the Wind River Indian Reservation, but it’s on a parcel of private, not tribal, land.

The controversy erupted eight days ago when Lucas discouraged some tribal faith practices during a church service, just as the tribe finished its Sundance ceremonies. She had said, “a pipe cannot hear your prayers,” and “we know that Jesus is enough.”

. Northern Arapaho Tribal members were furious at what they cast as an insult to their “grandfather pipe” – a revered relic associated with the Arapaho creation story.

Protests unfolded at the Riverton City Hall and at the Foundations for Nations church site in the town of Arapahoe.

“I want a public apology from them,” said Northern Arapaho Business Council Chair Keenan Groesbeck during a 

 last Tuesday. He stood in front of a yellow tape line that stretched across the church’s driveway. 

[{"type":"text","text":"He said Lucas’ message was disrespectful."}]

“If they don’t want to apologize to us, they can leave,” said Groesbeck. 

Protestors joined in a traditional chant as honks and whoops sounded from passing vehicles.

Lucas went to a meeting with tribal leaders Friday. She said the council allowed its “Four Old Men” elder group to join the meeting, and leaders discussed the importance of the pipe relic and told her to leave.

[{"type":"text","text":"Lucas described the meeting as unprofessional."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Groesbeck took to Facebook about two hours later."}]

“Just so everyone knows. We told Foundations For Nations and Sarah Lucas they got to go. We ain’t putting up with their bullshit,” says Groesbeck’s Friday post. “

Groesbeck could not be reached for comment by publication. Nor could the other council members except for Sami Dresser, who declined to comment.

The tribe’s spokesman did not respond to a request for comment by publication.

Lucas told Cowboy State Daily she won’t apologize for preaching from the Bible, though she wishes to apologize “that it came off as an attack.”

“But I am a Christian preacher. I am a pastor and I preach the full counsel of God’s word,” she said. 

Lucas said she’s not against the sun dance altogether: she supports fasting and praying as a whole concept. But she understands the ceremony also involves “the worship of the pipe,” she said, adding that’s idolatry, and irreconcilable with the teaching that “Jesus is the only way.”

She pointed to the divisive messages the Bible attributes to Jesus, and the persecution and martyrdom his followers suffered.

“You could take everything from me but you can’t take my God,” said Lucas. “I’m willing to be martyred for the faith. I’ve counted the cost.”

She voiced mild surprise at the current outrage, saying community members have maligned Jesus and biblical teaching to her for years and she hasn’t retaliated. 

Regarding the tribal community, Lucas said she loves them and wants to maintain a forgiving posture. She referenced the high suicide, poverty, and addiction rates of the reservation. And she reiterated part of the same message that sparked this clash.

“Only Jesus can turn a life around, can deliver somebody, can set somebody free,” she said, adding that she’s called to preach that and is “more concerned with eternity, than I am about earthly hate.”

Lucas said people have been “twisting” her family’s message, casting their work as a grift and slandering them. She countered, noting that she did not take a salary for the church’s first several years, and that she’s now at about $25,000 annually. Her husband has worked two jobs in the past to pay their bills, she said.

She rebutted other rumors about harms to kids in the church’s sizable kids’ program, saying “All these lies are making the kids in our program feel unsafe. And that just hurts.”

Lucas indicated her family isn’t ready to leave the reservation. She said she wants to see people’s hearts changed.

“They might be mad for now, but I believe the supernatural power of God is going to turn this around,” said Lucas. “We don’t obey man. We obey God.”

She said she and her family are working with an attorney to remain on their parcel. They’re also weathering death threats, according to multiple screenshots Lucas sent Cowboy State Daily.

The outlet reached out to the FBI late Monday and will update this story when the agency comments.

Special church events are suspended for now, but church is scheduled for each Sunday as usual, Lucas said, adding that some kids still want to come to youth group, and some parents have been asking when the church will start youth group again.

The church runs a philanthropic food pantry, which closed early last week.  

[{"type":"text","text":"‘Why Are They Trying To Save Us?’"}]

Chris Friday, a tribal member who has helped to coordinate multiple protests, told Cowboy State Daily on Monday that the question of whether the Lucases and church must leave the reservation “Now (is) probably going to involve the courts.”

Friday helped organize another protest outside the church during its Sunday service, which occurred on schedule. He said church attendees were seen “carrying around guns.”

Lucas confirmed this in her own interview, as she referenced the death threats.

“There’s people protesting there all the time,” said Friday, regarding the church. “Just, what they said, man. It hurts us as Arapaho people. Makes us seem like we’re lower than them, that their way is better than ours.”

Friday defended the Arapaho prayer traditions, saying they go back generations, and non-tribal members have often tried to observe them without permission.

“Why are they interested in us so much? Why are they trying to save us? I don’t know. We don’t need any saving or anything; we didn’t ask for them,” said Friday. “They should just take the hint and leave – respectfully of course. Go back to where you were.”

The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, which Arapaho and other tribal leaders signed along with the U.S. government, says any “bad men among the whites” or other people who “commit any wrong upon the person or property of the Indians” shall be, “upon proof” handed to the federal government for arrest and punishment according to the nation’s laws. The offender shall “also reimburse the injured persons for the loss sustained,” the treaty says.

Friday referenced the clause as a potential avenue for barring the Lucases from the reservation.

[{"type":"text","text":"It’s uncertain whether the tribe would win such a case."}]

Some tribes invoked it against the federal government in litigation regarding pharmaceutical companies’ marketing and sale of opioid drugs to tribal members. That claim failed because the tribes “(failed) to allege a ‘wrong’ cognizable under the treaty,” says a Dec. 9, 2020, 

 of Federal Claims, and the opioid company hadn’t come onto the reservation to commit some wrong.

Friday noted in his interview that tribal land surrounds the Foundations for Nations private land parcel. He wondered aloud if the tribe could block the Lucases’ access, but said “I don’t know how that would really work. It would probably have to go through the court.”

[{"type":"text","text":"More From That Church Service"}]

Lucas’ full sermon was unavailable at least as of Monday. The one-minute, 38-second clip that went viral last week depicts Lucas paraphrasing from the Bible: “tear down the altars, tear down the idols.”

She spoke of “this nation” gathering in recent days, praying. The tribal members had just conducted their sun dance ceremony.

“They prayed to pipes and they prayed to the ancestors, believing this is the way for their freedom. To get free from addiction, for people to be healed … this is what this culture did this week,” said Lucas.

[{"type":"text","text":"She urged the congregation to pray."}]

“Because we know that Jesus is enough. He’s enough. It’s not Jesus-plus. It’s Jesus everything. He’s everything,” said Lucas.

She referenced people she described as tribal members who have become Christians.

“And they understand the price … when they say that publicly. The persecution that can come with them publicly,” Lucas said. “But they know that this is it. Jesus is the chain breaker. He’s the only one that we should be praying to. A pipe cannot hear your prayers.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Because Of This Dark History"}]

Christian Wassana, an enrolled Cheyenne Arapaho of Oklahoma who played Martin Kills Many on “Yellowstone," told Cowboy State Daily in a Wednesday interview that tribal members are still wrestling with troubling treatments by past, Christian-affiliated missions, such as the boarding schools that forbade the children from speaking their native languages.

[{"type":"text","text":"He had posted one of the original links to the video of Lucas preaching."}]

Indian boarding schools proliferated in the nation a century ago, many run by religious groups and funded with federal money.

Historical accounts tell of tribal leaders who wanted their kids to gain an education, a federal government that wanted to assimilate the kids and religious leaders who wanted to convert them.

Northern Arapaho sub-chief Sharp Nose sent his son, Little Chief, to the Carlisle boarding school in Pennsylvania in the late 1800s, hoping the boy could learn skills from the white man for surviving in the new culture.

Little Chief died in the school’s infirmary in 1883 and was buried on school grounds – a common occurrence for tribal children.

Jesuits came to the Wind River Indian Reservation and built St. Stephen’s Indian School in 1884.

Arapaho 7 13 26

<title>Arapaho Tribe Tells Christian Church To Leave Reservation; Church Says No | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Northern Arapaho Tribal leaders have told a Christian church to leave the reservation after the pastor preached "a pipe cannot hear your prayers.'  The pastor said she's staying, and won't apologize for preaching that "Jesus is the only way."

Arapaho Tribe Tells Christian Church To Leave Reservation; Church Says No

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Public Safety

For most Wyoming drivers, Interstate 25 is simply the highway connecting Cheyenne, Casper and Sheridan. But federal drug agents say it's also one of the primary corridors used by Mexican cartels to move fentanyl and other illegal drugs north through the Rocky Mountain region.

Speaking Monday in Cheyenne, U.S. Attorney Darin Smith and Drug Enforcement Administration officials said I-25 remains a key transportation route for cartel-connected trafficking organizations moving fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin through Wyoming. 

The announcement came as authorities revealed they've already seized nearly 6,000 fentanyl pills in Wyoming this year, surpassing the roughly 5,500 confiscated during all of 2025.

"Interstate 25 that runs through the state remains a key transportation route for cartel-led smuggling," DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division Special Agent in Charge David Olesky said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Supply Chain "}]

The federal warning echoes what Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation Commander Ryan Cox told Cowboy State Daily last month.

According to Cox, most illegal drugs sold in Wyoming don't originate in the Cowboy State. Instead, traffickers typically obtain them from distribution hubs in the Denver metropolitan area or, for much of southwest Wyoming, the Salt Lake City area, before transporting them back into Wyoming for sale.

Those supply routes help explain why drug trends emerging in neighboring states often make their way into Wyoming.

When the DEA announced in June that fentanyl-laced heroin had surfaced in Colorado and Utah, Cox said it was reasonable to expect the dangerous combination could eventually reach Wyoming because traffickers rely on those same established distribution networks.

Federal officials said nearly all illicit fentanyl entering the United States is manufactured by Mexico's Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels using precursor chemicals shipped from China before being trafficked north through established smuggling corridors that ultimately reach states like Wyoming.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Overdoses Down "}]

Even as law enforcement says more fentanyl is moving through Wyoming, overdose deaths are trending in the opposite direction.

According to federal officials, Wyoming recorded 54 opioid-involved fentanyl overdose deaths last year, down from 84 the previous year — a decline of about 35%.

Olesky said the encouraging trend doesn't mean residents can afford to let their guard down.

DEA laboratory testing now shows roughly three out of every 10 counterfeit pills seized nationwide contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl. While that's down from about seven out of every 10 pills in previous years, Olesky emphasized that a single counterfeit pill can still be fatal.

"My number one advice to all is: don't take a pill that doesn't come directly from a licensed pharmacy and based on a prescription from your doctor," he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'We're Coming For You'"}]

Smith said Operation Take Back America has strengthened cooperation among local, state and federal agencies to identify and prosecute drug traffickers operating in Wyoming.

Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak said deputies have made 186 drug-related arrests so far this year and credited partnerships with the DEA, Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and local agencies for helping reduce property crime while connecting people struggling with addiction to treatment programs when they're willing to seek help.

Smith said whether traffickers are using Wyoming's highways, the mail or stash houses to distribute narcotics, federal prosecutors intend to use every available resource to hold them accountable.

"If you are trafficking narcotics here, or in this region for that matter, you'll be hunted down, you will be prosecuted, and you will serve your federal time," Smith said.

Kozak i 25 7 13 26

<title>Feds: I-25 Remains Wyoming's Main Artery For Cartel Drug Trafficking | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Federal officials said Monday fentanyl seizures in Wyoming have already exceeded last year's total, and said Interstate-25 remains a major drug-trafficking route for Mexican cartels.

Feds: I-25 Remains Wyoming's Main Artery For Cartel Drug Trafficking

Around Wyoming

A parasite that can keep people chained to the bathroom for weeks has reached Wyoming.

State health officials have now confirmed six cases of cyclosporiasis this year — double the number 

 — including one domestically acquired infection that remains under investigation while federal officials search for the source of one of the nation's largest Cyclospora outbreaks in recent years.

The illness is often dismissed as just another stomach bug — until it refuses to go away, said Cheyenne Regional Medical Center emergency physician Dr. Matthew Loptien.

"Ultimately I understand those words can provoke that (laughter)," Loptien told Cowboy State Daily, referring to the phrase "explosive diarrhea." 

[{"type":"text","text":"\"But it is not funny, that's for sure.\""}]

His warning comes as Wyoming health officials continue tracking the parasite's spread within the state.

Five of Wyoming's six confirmed infections were likely acquired while patients traveled to countries where the microscopic parasite 

 is endemic, according to the Wyoming Department of Health.

That leaves just one case believed to have been contracted inside the United States.

"We have not linked our one non-travel-related case to any other cluster at this time," Wyoming Department of Health Surveillance Epidemiologist Matt Peterson said Monday.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Weeks, Not Days"}]

Unlike the stomach viruses that typically disappear after a day or two, the parasite can linger for weeks — sometimes even months — before finally loosening its grip.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says symptoms usually begin two days to two weeks after someone consumes contaminated food or water, often making it difficult for patients to remember exactly what they ate before becoming sick.

"The hallmark of this is a prolonged diarrheal illness," Loptien said. "The biggest risk is for developing dehydration as a result."

Young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems are especially vulnerable because dehydration can develop much more quickly in those groups.

"Individuals who are experiencing profuse watery diarrhea and cramps for extended periods, especially if the symptoms subside and then return, or are accompanied by loss of appetite and significant weight loss, should see their physician about testing," he added.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Three Weeks"}]

For Grover resident Eve Sutter Buehler, the illness struck so suddenly she initially assumed it was food poisoning.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Feeling fine one minute and not able to function the next,\" she said."}]

Buehler said several members of her extended family became ill after gathering for wedding festivities over Memorial Day weekend. Most were sick for nearly three weeks, while younger family members recovered after about 10 days.

"The first onset of sickness was on May 31st late in the day … by June 2nd in the evening, we were almost all miserable," Buehler said. "We eat a lot of raw fruit and raw veggies. Those who don’t, didn’t get sick. That’s how we started putting it all together. We did have a bridal shower meal where most of us ate a strawberry/spinich salad. We’ve considered that."

One relative became so ill she was repeatedly evaluated for appendicitis and gallbladder problems before a physician assistant suggested Cyclospora as a possible explanation.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"At first, we all thought we had food poisoning or a flu,\" she said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Easy To Miss"}]

One reason Cyclospora is so difficult to track is that doctors first have to think of it.

Loptien said patients usually provide a stool sample, but many commonly used laboratory panels don't automatically test for parasites like Cyclospora.

Instead, providers often must order specialized ova-and-parasite testing when they suspect the illness.

That means some infections could easily be mistaken for a routine stomach virus.

Asked whether additional Wyoming cases may have gone undiagnosed, Loptien said, "I think that is always a possibility."

"There certainly is overlap in regard to the symptoms with Cyclospora and more common viral intestinal illnesses," he said. "However, the symptoms tend to be a bit more persistent and tend to last a little bit longer."

Unlike norovirus, Cyclospora generally does not spread directly from person to person. The CDC notes the parasite must first mature in the environment before becoming infectious, meaning most U.S. infections are linked to contaminated food or water rather than casual contact.

Loptien said patients should focus on hydration and electrolyte replacement while seeking medical care. Once diagnosed, Cyclospora is typically treated with the antibiotic Bactrim, and most patients begin improving within a couple of days. Without treatment, however, symptoms can continue coming and going for weeks.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Cause Unknown "}]

Although Wyoming's case count has doubled, Peterson said the state's investigation still points overwhelmingly toward travel-related infections rather than a local outbreak.

"All but one of them likely acquired the infection while traveling to regions endemic for Cyclospora outside the USA," Peterson said.

That leaves investigators with just one domestically acquired case to study.

"With only one domestically acquired Cyclospora infection, determining a food vehicle is nearly impossible," Peterson said.

The CDC, Food and Drug Administration and health departments across the country are interviewing patients, tracing grocery purchases and studying food distribution networks in hopes of identifying the contaminated food responsible for what has become one of the country's largest Cyclospora outbreaks in years. The FDA has opened an active outbreak investigation, but because investigators have not identified the contaminated product, no recall has been issued.

Past U.S. outbreaks have been linked to imported fresh produce including cilantro, basil, lettuce, raspberries, mesclun greens and snow peas.

Peterson said imported produce remains Wyoming's most likely source whenever infections are acquired domestically because the parasite isn't naturally found here.

"Because Cyclospora is not endemic here, imported fresh produce is always the most likely vehicle," he previously told Cowboy State Daily.

Washing produce helps reduce risk but doesn't always remove the parasite, according to the FDA. Cooking food to an internal temperature of 158 degrees Fahrenheit will kill or inactivate it.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Watching Closely"}]

Although Wyoming's lone domestically acquired case hasn't been connected to the national outbreak, Peterson said investigators around the country are beginning to make progress.

"The national picture remains unclear," he said, "investigators in other jurisdictions are making progress on their respective outbreaks, which may inform our own if we see more domestically acquired cases moving forward."

"We typically don't release much information on isolated cases," Peterson said. "But if we find something new that is actionable for the public, we will issue a press release."

Loptien echoed that message, saying there's no reason for Wyoming residents to panic.

"Maintain good hydration, maintain good hand hygiene, wash your foods, and I think that is going to go a long way for a lot of people," he said.

Parasite 7 13 26

<title>Wyoming's 'Explosive Diarrhea' Cases Double, Linked To Travel Outside Of U.S. | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wyoming has confirmed six cases of Cyclospora, a parasite that can cause weeks of explosive diarrhea, dehydration and weight loss. Medical experts link five of the six cases to travel outside the U.S. "It is not funny, that's for sure," an ER doctor said.

Wyoming's 'Explosive Diarrhea' Cases Double, Linked To Travel Outside Of U.S.

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

Andrew Rossi

Outdoors

 at Yellowstone National Park’s Bridge Bay Campground has a long road of recovery ahead of him but is expected to recover. 

He was even making jokes about it in the moments after it happened, 

the photographer who witnessed the event tells Cowboy State Daily

Carl Ison-McDaniel, 65, of Kendall, Washington, 

by a bull bison Friday. He remains hospitalized as he recovers from being thrown at least 8 feet 

[{"type":"text","text":"On Sunday, he posted a brief note on Facebook."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“Thank you everyone I am OK,” he wrote."}]

, said he’s been in contact with McDaniel’s grandson, who was with him when it occurred.

“(The family) seems to be protecting their privacy, so I don’t want to pry any more than I already have,” he told Cowboy State Daily.

He did, however, say that McDaniel was “in good spirits” immediately after his harrowing ordeal.

“He was in a lot of pain, but was conscious and joking the whole time,” he said.

McDaniel was walking past the Bridge Bay Campground with his 

 grandson around 8:30 p.m. when the incident occurred. The bull bison had been there for some time, running through the campsites and mock-charging people, tents and picnic tables.

When McDaniel and his grandson arrived, the bison was rolling in a dust wallow, and it seemed to have momentarily calmed down. The pair was unaware of how aggressively it had been behaving moments 

“They weren't even in that camping loop,” McLeod said. “They were walking along the road, quite a ways away from the bison. They stopped, got their phones out, and took some pictures, and when the bison started to get up, (McDaniel) was like, “OK, time to leave.’”

MacLeod has emphasized multiple times, during interviews with national and international news publications since the incident, that McDaniel and his grandson did nothing to provoke the bison and weren’t acting irresponsibly.

When the bison started running toward them, McDaniel ran behind a line of trees to put something between himself and the bison. He couldn’t have anticipated the bison would run into the trees, undeterred by the barrier.

“(McDaniel) made a lap around the trees, and the bison chased him through the trees,” MacLeod said. “I thought he'd lost him, but the bison kept going around and came out the other side.”

That’s when the bison hooked its horn around McDaniel’s leg and tossed him into the air. He landed hard on his right side, resulting in several broken bones.

At that point, MacLeod put his camera down and ran at the bison, "making myself as big and loud as I could," to drive it off. When several other observers followed suit, the bison ran off.

In one sense, McDaniel was lucky. He didn’t appear to have been gored by the bison’s horns, which could have made the incident fatal.

“Another gal and I did a blood sweep, but we couldn’t find any blood,” he said. “(McDaniel) was conscious and in good spirits until EMS arrived.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Community Leader"}]

McDaniel didn’t share any additional information on the incident or his condition, although his situation has improved from “critical” to “serious.”

, McDaniel is an active member of his community in northwest Washington.

He’s on multiple boards in Kendall, including Foothills Community Alliance and the Columbia Valley water and parks districts. He’s also one of the co-founders of The Foothills Communication Hub, an online publication with news and event information for Kendall and several other communities in northwest Washington.

[{"type":"text","text":"He’s not likely to forget his visit to northwest Wyoming anytime soon."}]

MacLeod said he shared his videos of the bison with McDaniel’s grandson. He wanted to review his actions to see if there was any way he might have contributed to the bison’s aggression, and MacLeod repeatedly reassured him that he didn’t do anything wrong.

“He was really worried and wanted to see the video to make sure that it wasn't his fault,” he said. “It’s not his fault. You can tell from the very beginning. That was a really, really angry bison.”

Bison man 7 13 26

<title>Washington Grandfather Recovering In Hospital After Yellowstone Bison Attack | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The man who made international headlines after being attacked by a bison in Yellowstone on Friday is in a hospital recovering with several broken bones. Carl Ison-McDaniel of Kendall, Washington, thanked well-wishers and said he was doing "OK."

Washington Grandfather Recovering In Hospital After Yellowstone Bison Attack

Six years ago, this guy went viral for being the smartest guy in Yellowstone.....

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