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<title>Steve Inman: Sunday, August 11, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Steve Inman: Sunday, August 11, 2024

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Mark Heinz

Outdoors

The Powder River at Arvada in Sheridan County has essentially stopped flowing for nearly a month, encapsulating severe drought conditions persisting across the West.

The river’s flow levels there have been sitting at zero to near-zero cubic feet per second (cfs) since mid-July, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) communications specialist Cheryl Miller told Cowboy State Daily.

When the river hits 0 cfs, “there could be a little pool there, but it is not moving," Miller said. "There is no water going downstream from there.” 

The Powder River's main steam flows for 375 miles from the Bighorn Mountains into the Yellowstone River near Terry, Montana. It is susceptible to wild fluctuations because it is one of the last free-flowing prairie river systems in the country.

During a typical year, the Powder at Arvada is flowing at 135 cfs, Miller said. 

[{"type":"text","text":"On June 16, it was at 17.5 cfs."}]

When the river reaches zero cubic feet per second, native fish such as sauger, channel catfish and sturgeon chub have evolved to survive in deeper pools.

“This is not unheard of for that site," Miller said of zero cfs, "but it is uncommon.” 

Records dating to 1930 indicate the Powder River has hit a standstill at Arvada about a dozen times, though there are no records for length of time at zero flow. The Powder also reached 100,000 cubic feet per second in 1923.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Why So Low?"}]

Unusually light snowpack coupled with a relative lack of rain during the spring and summer have contributed to the scarcity of water this summer, Miller said. Irrigation has also taken water from its tributaries, 

fishing guide Gene Pruett told Cowboy State Daily.

Dry ground along the upper stretches can absorb some of the river’s runoff.

The main Powder River’s tributaries include the North, Middle and South forks, which are still flowing.

The Middle Fork is typically fishable until late June or early July, when the water becomes too warm for responsible angling, said Pruett, owner of the Thermopolis-based Wyoming Trout Angler fishing guide service.

He guides anglers on the North Fork in Outlaw Canyon above Kaycee.

Wyoming State Engineer Brandon Gebhart recently told the Legislature’s Select Water Committee that this is one of the 

“Over 83% of the state is in severe or extreme drought,” he said. "Luckily, no parts of the state are under exceptional drought, as of right now.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Time To Stop Fishing"}]

Flows along the upstream forks of the Powder River is “generally low,” said Mike Cassidy, fishing guide with Rock Creek Anglers, based out of Saddlestring in Johnson County.

It is probably weakest on the South Fork, he told Cowboy State Daily.

“We shut down our fishing on the Middle Fork because of high water temperatures,” he said.

Stretches of the North Fork on private property remain “fishable” because cold water from tributary springs has kept water temperatures lower, he said.

As a general rule, it’s best to stop even catch-and-release trout fishing once the water temperature hits 68 to 70 degrees because of stress to the fish, Pruett said.

In addition to shutting down his operations on the Middle Fork, Pruett said he’s limited trips to early mornings only on other rivers because of rising water temperatures.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department hasn’t mandated catch-and-release fishing shutdowns but is asking anglers and guides to suspend their fishing on numerous waters.

On the Bighorn, the Green, the Salt, the Snake, and the New Fork rivers, there are voluntary closure signs everywhere,” Pruett said.

“I think it’s the guides’ and the anglers’ responsibility to preserve the resource” and refrain from catch-and-release fishing when the water is too hot, he said.

As for the Powder, it was still near zero cubic feet per second at Locate, Montana, but picked up some water by the time it reaches Moorhead, where the flow was 10-12 cubic feet per second Thursday. 

Arvada 8 13 26

<title>Under Severe Drought Conditions, Wyoming’s Powder River Has Completely Stopped Flowing | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Powder River in Sheridan County has completely stopped flowing for nearly a month due to severe drought conditions and irrigation. During a typical year, the Powder at Arvada is flowing at 135 cubic feet per second, now it's at zero cubic feet per second.

Under Severe Drought Conditions, Wyoming’s Powder River Has Completely Stopped Flowing

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, August 14th.  I’m Mac Watson.

This newscast is brought to you by the Wyoming State Fair. Wrap up your summer at the Wyoming State Fair, August 11th through the 15th in Douglas!

Rodeo, Demolition Derby, live music, entertainment and fair food await. Learn more at W-Y State Fair dot com. See you at the fair! This ad was paid for by Converse County Tourism.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}],"text":"–"}]

The Wyoming's Turn PAC that has been attacking Sen. Eric Barlow in his run for governor is the state's biggest-spending PAC in the primary election. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that’s nearly $1 million more than last cycle’s top spender.

“That PAC spent about $1.4 million in this election cycle last year. Some of the biggest spenders we saw were right about half million, or actually closer to 300,000, 400,000. This year we saw Make Liberty Win, often a top spender with just over half million, and so they got beat by the big governor's PAC. There is also a PAC that's spending around $200,000 that has been attacking Degenfelder.”

 reports receiving over $1.5M in contributions this year, meaning it has a little over $95,000 remaining in the final week before Tuesday’s primary election.

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

The mother and grandfather of a 2-month old baby found dead in a sweltering, feces-filled camper pleaded not guilty Tuesday to numerous charges surrounding the infant's death. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that caseworkers did have contact with the family earlier in the year.

“DFS had tried to go and see inside of the camper and check on the baby's welfare, and Travis' study basically told them to leave his property and would not give them access to come inside. After a high risk pregnancy, the baby soon lost 11% of its body weight. When one caseworker went to the house, she noticed signs of debris everywhere, including a strong odor of cat urine coming from one of their vehicles. DFS tried to make contact, and when they came up to the camper, Travis Study told them to leave and would not give them access to come inside or to check on the baby.”

Both defendants have pleaded not guilty. 22-year-old Destiny Study faces only misdemeanors, and she will have a pre-trial conference in November. 57-year-old Travis Study also pleaded not guilty, so now the case awaits the trial date.

The national social media influencer Libs of TikTok blasted a Laramie High School counselor on Thursday for saying he wishes Wyoming House Speaker Chip Neiman had been aborted. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports the influencer wrote, “Would you want this person in charge of your kids' mental health?”

“She blasted a commenter who also happens to be a Laramie High School counselor for saying he wishes House Speaker Chip Neiman had been aborted. So Neiman said the comment was horrific, undermines the pro-choice argument. But he also said he feels for the counselor.”

When asked to comment about Jason Uitterdyk’s post, Albany County School District No. 1 declined to comment via its communications coordinator Madison Green.

A dimwitted tourist posted a video of himself illegally climbing above the Upper Falls of the Grand Canyon in Yellowstone earlier this week. He bragged about the “risky view” and how it gave him adrenaline. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that the unidentified, for now, hiker’s Instagram post could result in charges.

“You are not allowed to go off trail in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Off-trail travel in that area is prohibited, and climbing onto the perch over the upper falls of the Grand Canyon is considered off-trail travel. Climbing falls under that jurisdiction, so certainly should not have been where he was. And the worst thing you can do if you're going to do something like that in Yellowstone is post about it on social media, which he also did. So not only is that discouraging because it might encourage other people to do the same thing, it's self-incriminating.”

Rock climbing isn’t prohibited in Yellowstone, but going off-trail is. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is one of those areas. The exact language of the prohibition can be found in the 

Yellowstone Superintendent’s Compendium

, which is reviewed annually and updated as needed. 

I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.

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

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

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

The Bureau of Land Management plans to round up about 1,800 mustangs in the Red Desert Complex of central Wyoming this fall, claiming that overpopulated horses are at risk for starvation. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that wild-horse advocate Carol Walker doesn’t believe that.

“The BLM starting this fall, maybe in October, they want to go in and their end goal is to round up about 1,800 horses out of there and get their numbers back down. Their claim is if we don't get in there and reduce that population significantly, some horses could start starving. I talked to a wild horse advocate who told me that in her words, she says that's baloney. She said that from what she's seen out on the range, the horses are all in good shape. They're all looking fat and looking like they have plenty to eat.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The roundups are set to begin in the fall."}]

Hulett's Ham and Jam is supposed to be a one-day party. Ride in, have a Bloody Mary, eat a pork sandwich, and roar off into the distance toward Sturgis. But Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the event has become such a popular event, the 30,000 bikers who visit every year have extended their stay.

“It's a great, beautiful ride in Wyoming's northeastern Black Hills, and so in order to attract more of those riders, a lot of the towns that are on this loop, like Hewlett, have come up with you know things to attract some of the Sturgis rally goers. Captain Ron, the guy that owned Ron's Rodeo Bar, came up with the idea to serve a free pork sandwich to Sturgis rally goers at his bar, and he had free music and you know, of course, drinks you buy, but free pork sandwich.”

Captain Ron’s Rodeo Bar server Kelly Maher-Wolfensperger has just a few rules for the annual Ham and Jam party that happens in Hulett each year. She tells Cowboy State Daily, “We do not mince, muddle, or blend – so don’t ask.” Her no-nonsense rules mean the bar doesn’t make Old Fashioneds, mojitos, or mules during the weeks of the Sturgis rally. 

A grizzly and wolf initially had a tense standoff over a bison carcass in Yellowstone, but opted to resolve it peacefully. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that the photographer who filmed the interaction said they're smarter than people think because the animals know fighting could be costly. 

“I talked to a photographer, Marcela Herdova.she just got some cool footage of a wolf and a grizzly bear. There, there was a carcass nearby, and they were kind of getting close to each other and posturing and doing the tough guy thing, but they didn't actually fight.  More often than not, it turns out how it's shown in that video, where the animals will posture and kind of you know puff up and then one will eventually give up and walk away. Fights are risky, you know. If a person breaks an arm, you go to the doctor to get it fixed. If a wolf breaks his leg in a fight, then he's screwed. Probably going to die, you know. And they seem to know that.”

The worst it got was the bear giving the wolf a grumpy “side eye,” Herdova tells Cowboy State Daily, who was among numerous visitors who saw the drama in Yellowstone's Hayden Valley. 

Two South Dakota Highway Patrol troopers were nearly struck by lightning while on a manhunt Wednesday evening. Body cam video captured the lightning strike followed by an immediate yell. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that lightning struck a little too close for comfort for the troopers.

“The South Dakota Highway Patrol troopers were not injured, though it was the shock of their lives. They were only a few yards away from the lightning strike. It does tend to be true that lightning strikes the tallest point in an area, but that's not a guarantee. It strikes ground all the time, as we see in Wyoming. That's how we get wildfires. The best thing you can do if you're in an area where you're anticipating a lightning strike because you hear thunder, it's not to go prostrate on the ground. Don't do that. The goal is to make yourself as short and as small as possible. So crouch down and get it so that only the slightest bits of your toes are actually touching the ground, because then you're conducting less electricity.”

The troopers were searching for someone with “a purple shirt” when lightning suddenly struck the ground just south of Rapid City, according to a video the highway patrol posted.

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

And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on 

 - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our 

 channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I’m Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

News image 8 14 26

<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Friday, August 14, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Friday's headlines include:
* Anti-Barlow PAC top spender
* More Idiots In Yellowstone Emerge
* BLM Wants To Round Up 1,800 Wild Horses

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Friday, August 14, 2026

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily political columnist, Rod Miller.

Rod Miller

Opinion

CSD Columnists

There was no crowd to energize, no babies to kiss nor hundreds of hands to shake. No stem-winder of a political speech was delivered. 

This was just a cowboy and a little kid comparing their hand-me-down belt buckles and getting to know each other.

It happened last Friday in Cheyenne when Sen. Eric Barlow took some time away from the grueling pace of his campaign for governor to meet my four year-old grandson, Dayton, in front of the U.P depot so they could shake, howdy and compare belt buckles. 

[{"type":"text","text":"I consider that just cowboy as hell on Barlow’s part."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Here’s the story of those buckles. "}]

I had just returned to the ranch where I grew up after several years in Italy. 

I decided to get belt buckles made for my dad Frank, my brother Mark, and myself with the family’s I Lazy D brand emblazoned thereon.

A belt buckle with the family brand is wearable heritage. Passing it down to the next generation is an act of love and shared history.

I Lazy D is an old brand, recorded in the Wyoming territorial brand book around 1870. 

Cattle and horses wore it before Wyoming became a state. But more on brands later.

I ran my trapline in Rawlins and found out that the best bucklemaker was doing time in the old penitentiary for forgery. 

Seems that if a man is good at engraving plates for counterfeit money, he’s also good at crafting belt buckles.

I had three I Lazy D buckles made, and Dad, Mark and I wore them for years. I recently handed mine down to Dayton. 

Mark was State Archaeologist at the time, and got permission from Bill Barlow, Eric’s dad, to excavate an archaeological site on the Barlow ranch. 

To express his thanks, Mark had a belt buckle made by the same silversmith with Barlow’s Bar L O brand and gave it to Bill.

When you see Eric on the campaign trail, he’s wearing that same belt buckle. 

It’s the one his dad wore, then handed down to him, and for my money, it’s one of the cleverest brands in the Wyoming brand book. 

I asked the candidate if he had time to meet Dayton so they could show off the buckles that held their britches up. He graciously said yes, and the photo is in this column.

The expression “riding for the brand” is often misused, and has nothing to do with politics. 

It comes from Wyoming’s open range days in the late 19th century, It describes a cowboy who is skilled and dependable enough to be kept on long term, roundup after roundup, by a big cow outfit. 

A lesser cowhand would be paid his wages after roundup, and sent back out on the grubline to find work somewhere else. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Top hands rode for the brand because the brand gave the cowboy a home."}]

Riding for a brand, a cowboy learns the landscape of the outfit. He knows where to find good grass and water, and where to avoid larkspur and locoweed. He learns where to cross the mountains and rivers without losing livestock.

[{"type":"text","text":"And the cowboy doesn’t choose the brand. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The brand chooses the cowboy. Loyalty cuts both ways."}]

That’s why a brand on a belt buckle is worn with a deep sense of pride, like young Dayton Miller and candidate Eric Barlow wear theirs.

Contrast this brand ethic with a Freedom Caucus member getting busted for DUI, and bragging about his “Honor Wyoming” belt buckle during his booking at the jail. 

[{"type":"text","text":"A brand means different things to different people. But I digress."}]

I suppose the aforesaid is a long-winded and flowery way for me to tell you who will get my vote for Wyoming’s governor, and why. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Barlow rides for the brand, as I understand the term. "}]

He shows up. He does the work. And Dayton Miller took a real liking to him.

Rod Miller can be reached at RodsMillerWyo@yahoo.com

Mix Collage 13 Aug 2026 09 42 AM 1858

<title>Rod Miller: Riding For The Brand Wearing Hand-Me-Down Belt Buckles | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "A brand on a belt buckle is worn with a deep sense of pride, like young Dayton Miller and candidate Eric Barlow wear theirs. Contrast this with a Freedom Caucus member getting busted for DUI, and bragging about his 'Honor Wyoming' belt buckle at the jail."

Rod Miller: Riding For The Brand Wearing Hand-Me-Down Belt Buckles

Wildlife

Tourists might like the idea of watching Yellowstone National Park’s top two predators locked in a bloody battle royale, but when it comes down to it grizzlies and wolves would rather work things out. 

That was evident when a young wolf and a grizzly reached what a witness described as a “gentleman’s agreement” over a bison carcass in the Yellowstone River recently, wildlife photographer Marcela Herdova told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday. 

About the worst it got was the bear giving the wolf a grumpy “side eye,” said Herdova, who was among numerous visitors who saw the drama in Yellowstone's Hayden Valley. 

The grizzly “eventually made one swipe with a paw but didn’t seem to have any intent of actually slashing the wolf,” she said. 

Retired Wyoming Game and Fish Department biologist Mark Bruscino told Cowboy State Daily that wolves and grizzlies generally get along better than people might think.

“These kinds of interactions probably happen very frequently,” he said. 

Biologist Doug Smith, who led the Yellowstone wolf program for nearly three decades, said wolves and bears have adapted to each other. 

"This is a common interaction. They both respect each other. The bear us stronger, the wolf is quicker. Hence neither want to do anything dramatic,” Smith said. “They (wolves) just go slow, watch the other and see what they can get. If the bear wants to control you carcass it can, but the wolf can nimbly dart in when opportunity arises.” 

The grizzly apparently was a large, older bear and seemed confident in laying claim to the carcass, Herdova said. 

The bear at one point dug a bed next to it and went to sleep, apparently completely confident it wouldn’t be bothered. 

Then two young wolves, from the Wapiti pack, approached. 

The bolder of the two walked up the grizzly and, for a while, it appeared there might be trouble, Herdova said. 

“We watched it unfold, but there was no direct conflict,” she said. “This went on for a long time, the way they were just dancing around each other.”  

Eventually, the wolf capitulated and sat nearby. The grizzly went back to feasting off the carcass, she said. 

The encounter was ended not by the animals but by an irresponsible human, Herdova added. 

“Somebody flew a drone over the grizzly and ran it off,” she said. 

It’s illegal to fly drones in Yellowstone. In June 2025, a tourist was caught and 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Avoiding Fights"}]

After the grizzly left, the wolves moved in to eat from the carcass, Herdova said. 

Next in line were eagles and ravens, which took over after the wolves left, she added. 

Animals can usually work out a pecking order without coming to blows, Bruscino said. 

“I think animal behaviorists would say animals almost always prefer to work out dominance through body language, vocalizations, non-contact aggression, or a combination of those. Fighting can have serious consequences, injury or death, for the participants,” he said. 

After viewing a video clip that Herdova took of the encounter between the bear and the wolf, he said it was a prime example of wildlife settling things without violence. 

“I think that bear is communicating that he doesn't want to fight but he doesn't want to give up the carcass during that short moment that is filmed,” he said. 

‘One Of The Greatest Things I’ve Ever Seen’

Herdova said watching the wolf and bear part ways peacefully was “one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen in Yellowstone.”

“They’re a lot smarter than we give them credit for. They know that conflict is costly,” she said.

Bear wolf 8 13 26

<title>Wolf-Grizzly Drama Over Carcass Shows Yellowstone Visitors How Predators Coexist | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A grizzly and wolf initially had a tense standoff over a bison carcass in Yellowstone, but opted to resolve it peacefully. The photographer who filmed the interaction said they're smarter than people think. "They know that conflict is costly," she said.

Wolf-Grizzly Drama Over Carcass Shows Yellowstone Visitors How Predators Coexist

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's business and tourism reporter, Renée Jean

Renée Jean

Business & Tourism

Kelly Maher-Wolfensperger has just a few rules for the annual Ham and Jam party that happens in Hulett each year, when 30,000 or so bikes roll into town for a free pork sandwich and the fixings from Captain Ron’s Rodeo Bar.

“We do not mince, muddle, or blend,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “And we have no carbless and we have no Twisted Tea — so don’t ask.”

Her no-nonsense rules mean the bar doesn’t make Old Fashioneds, mojitos, or mules during the weeks of the Sturgis rally. 

“I’ve got people coming in here asking me for Chardonnay,” Wolfensperger added with a laugh. “I’m like, ‘What about this says we have wine?’ I mean, yeah, we have some really bad Cab, but this is not a wine bar.”

What she can make, besides the best Bloody Mary on the Hulett side of Sturgis, is a scene. 

“I live for chaos,” she said, spreading her arms wide to take in a classic small-town dive bar scene that is about to host hundreds of guests. “I’m born and ready for it. I’m an Aries, so, hell yeah, I’m ready for it.”

Sleep, coffee, ibuprofen and DripDrop — not necessarily in that order — are what she relies on to get her through August and the Sturgis Rally week.  

“My daughter is a dietician for a Big Ten football team and that’s what they use to keep their football players hydrated,” she said. 

With that, and 10 cute outfits complete with colorful boots, she’s ready — and rarin' — to go.

Wolfensperger and the town spend months preparing for the Ham and Jam.

“I think you start planning next year like the day it’s going on,” Tom Coronato told Cowboy State Daily. He is a co-owner of the Ponderosa Cafe. “I’m already planning for how I do it differently next year, because it’s not a one-day event. I mean Ham and Jam is one day, but if you prepare for one day you get one day. So we prepare for 21 days, because that’s when business is up in the Black Hills.”

The community works together on the broader logistics of drawing thousands of bikers. That includes a row of porta potties, as well as road crew and traffic crews, who keep the bikers going in the right direction and ensure cars aren’t driving into the middle of the Ham and Jam. 

“The mayor and the town council will do the budgets in advance, in anticipation of how many porta potties they need,” Coronato said. “What kind of staff they need, how many extra security people they need, like for police presence and stuff like that. The rest is just a wing and a prayer that you have good weather and good attendance.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Things aren’t always smooth. "}]

“It’s a nightmare,” Brianna Gose told Cowboy State Daily with a chuckle and a sigh. “As usual. It’s just a lot of work, but I’ve got great employees.”

Gose said she will start cleaning out the beer garden at Captain Ron’s Rodeo Bar at least a month ahead of time.

“It’s just a lot of running to get ready and going places, picking up all the supplies,” she said. “We had to go to three stores to find beans this year. Sam’s Club didn’t have any big cans of beans this time.”

The bar, which started the Ham and Jam 37 or so years ago, will spend thousands on its signature, free pork sandwich with picnic sides.

Rain might fall, but nothing seems to keep people from coming back, year after year, to experience this scene in the Black Hills of Wyoming. 

Hugs were the order of the day up and down the street as Ham and Jam regulars bump into one another again during Wyoming Wednesday.

Their excitement, their reunions, feed into an already festive, party atmosphere. 

Royce Griebler, for example, has been coming to the Ham and Jam since the late '80s and remembers when it was a bit woolier. 

“It was pretty wild with the drag racing and a lot of other stuff,” he said. “I mean, it was fun. Probably more dangerous, but back then you were young and you didn’t care about the danger.”

In the beginning, Griebler rode with his brother.

“He doesn’t ride anymore, but my son and some other friends do,” he said. “I’m out here to go ride.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Topless Steer Riding "}]

Frank Lamb also remembers when things were a bit wilder.

“At the time it was called No Panties Wednesday,” he said with a chuckle. “That was in 2003. They were just changing over to Ham and Jam.”

In those days, a PRCA rodeo capped the day, but the grand finale wasn’t bull riding. 

“It was topless steer riding,” Lamb said with a chuckle. “They don’t do that any more. So some things have calmed down quite a bit.”

DCI agents used to come to the event to help provide security, Lamb added. 

“One of them was a friend of mine, and it was horseback security,” he said. “So they had some horseback guys.”

Lamb doesn’t care that the event is a little tamer, nor did he care that rain clouds were gathering.

“I wouldn’t miss this,” he said. “I haven’t been able to come the last 10 years because of (work). But I”m not managing the racetrack anymore, so I can just go where I want.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Detour No More"}]

Ham and Jam is supposed to be a one-day party. Ride in, have a Bloody Mary, eat a pork sandwich, and roar off into the distance toward the next town on the Devils Tower loop’s “hydration station.”

But in Hulett, Wednesday’s spillover from Sturgis is so good it changes the script for some. They end up circling not just the date on their calendar but real estate listings, too.

Hulett's Ham and Jam is supposed to be a one-day party. Ride in, have a Bloody Mary, eat a pork sandwich, and roar off into the distance toward Sturgis. But it's become such a popular event, the 30,000 bikers who visit every year have extended their stay.

Steve Inman: Sunday, August 11, 2024

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