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"Where did my wife learn to drive like that??"

Bonus vid 1 12 3 24

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

<title>Bonus Video 1: Tuesday, December 3, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Bonus Video 1: Tuesday, December 3, 2024

 "Where did my wife learn to drive like that??"

Kerry Drake

Business

A galloping horse and rider that’s been an iconic piece of downtown Cheyenne folk art hasn’t galloped for many years, but it will Friday —  just in time to welcome its local fans and Cheyenne Frontier Days’ visitors.

The pony and rider have been featured outside The Wrangler’s western-wear store at Capitol Avenue and 16th Street since the late 1950s or early 1960s. It’s now owned by Boot Barn. No one knows precisely when the sign made its first appearance, and there’s no record of its creator.

But there will be no doubt about the identity of the local family that refurbished the pony and rider, which stands 8 feet tall and about 9 feet long.

Brothers Patrick and Dennis Graham and Dennis’ son Brandon said they have each spent about 90 hours working on the project since the original sign was taken down May 20.

A first move when they brought it to Patrick’s house was to sign their work on the interior, out of sight but available for any future historian who wants to know who was responsible for the galloping horse 2.0.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Other Fixes Failed"}]

Other attempts have been made to fix the sign, but City Councilman Pete Laybourn said they didn’t pan out.

“The horse has been the icon of downtown Cheyenne for a long time, and it deteriorated,” Laybourn said. “It quit running and looked raggedy-ass, so about four years ago in cooperation with Visit Cheyenne we took the horse down and repainted it, worked on the motor and put it back up.”

The horse briefly galloped before the internal gearing gave out. 

“That was a big disappointment,” Laybourn recalled. “We believed it was very important for the downtown people to step up and help. We tried to fix it twice and were very frustrated that it wouldn’t stay fixed.”

When the councilman visited Patrick Graham at his real estate office last year, across the street from the Boot Barn, he asked what he wanted to see improved in the area.

“I just wish the horse would ride again,” Patrick said.

Said Laybourn: “Patrick and I went over and tried to fix it without taking it down, and it ran very briefly again.”  

They contacted the store’s manager, and he agreed they should work together to rehabilitate the sign. The Boot Barn relied on the expertise of the Graham family, which volunteered to do the work, and the store agreed to pay for the parts.

The Grahams and Laybourn took down the sign, took it apart and re-created it. The original was made of plywood, and they replaced it with Marine plywood, which is specifically designed to withstand moisture and resist water damage. It also resists rot and fungal growth.

“It’s going to last for a long time,” Laybourn said.

Patrick told his brother it shouldn’t be a complicated job or take much time; Dennis responded that he was crazy. But Patrick knew that Dennis, who owns Grahamland Welding, and Brandon had precisely the mechanical know-how and fabrication skills to pull it off.

“I also knew there was no way that they wouldn’t do it,” Patrick said with a grin. “When replacement parts don’t exist, they just make their own.”

In addition to the horse and rider, Patrick’s backyard had three tractors in various states of repair Saturday morning. Describing their father as a master mechanic, Dennis said he was always fixing something.

 “I guess it’s in our genes,” he explained.

The family also shares an infectious sense of humor. A celebratory video posted on social media Sunday had them toasting and clinking their glasses and watching the horse “gallop” while Toby Keith and Willie Nelson sang, “We’ll raise up our glasses against evil forces singing ‘whiskey for my men, beer for my horses'.”

Patrick said his first Facebook post about the project had 41,000 views, “so we immediately knew it was a popular idea that people wanted to see.”

Patrick said his brother was the mastermind behind the mechanics.

“There’s a 1,140-rpm motor driving two pulley reduction shafts, and there’s a bell crank on the last shaft with links to the axles holding the legs; the bell crank system just drags them back and forth,” Dennis explained. 

The hardest part of the job, all three Grahams agreed, was wrapping tin around the profiles of the head of both the animal and rider to protect them on their journey across town.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Artist Jordan Dean Takes Over"}]

Now that the Grahams’ work is completed, it’s up to Cheyenne artist Jordan Dean to take the final step in the creative process and paint it.

 “We asked him to use the original colors, though of course adding Jordan’s unique touch,” Patrick said.

If you’re out and about in north Cheyenne, you can’t miss the monumental 88-foot-tall Water Tank Mural that Dean designed and painted north of Storey Boulevard, which features a

360-degree view of six horses running across the plains. It won the 2025 People’s Choice award in Tnemec’s “Tank of the Year” competition. 

Dean’s involvement in the horse-and-rider project at Wrangler Boot Barn also adds to his string of distinctive work in downtown Cheyenne, where he’s created several murals, including the popular "Bison Strumming Guitar” painting behind the Paramount Cafe. It also depicts a banjo-playing eagle.

“He’s a good friend and a talented artist,” Patrick said. “I knew he would volunteer his time and do a great job.”

Said Dean: “It’s kind of a fun thing. I moved to Cheyenne and that horse was up there. So it’s been a part of my daily visuals for the last 20 years or so. I remember a point where it wasn’t working.

“Mr. Graham is doing this for generations to come. It’s going to be solid. It’s an iconic piece of art downtown that you pass by and you knew somebody painted it at some point, but you really don’t think about it. It’ll be fun to walk by and say, ‘I painted that'.”

Dean said the last paint job was pretty simple. 

“I look forward to giving it a bit of an upgrade,” he said. “I don’t want it to be unrealistic or too stylized. I want it to fit, but some of the details I’m excited to dress up a bit.

“I hope to see it in photographs for many years to come,” he said. “It’s one of those pieces that’s been photographed forever, and it’s an honor to help out with the painting.”

Laybourn said the re-creation will be unveiled this week during the Friday at the Plaza concert across the street. The time is still to be determined, but he expects it to draw quite a crowd

“It was just a brilliant, articulated sign, and bringing it back is part of bringing back the atmosphere of the whole downtown,” Laybourn said. “It’s the heart of Cheyenne.”

Will Dean sign his work, unlike the original painter?

“Of all the public art I’ve done I’ve probably signed less than half of them,” he said. “To me I don’t worry too much about signing where people can see it because I’ll have painted all over it. I might sign it where only I know where it is.”

Kerry Drake can be reached at: Kerry@CowboyStateDaily.com

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<title>The Wrangler’s Galloping Horse Will Ride Again in Cheyenne | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The galloping horse and rider at Wrangler’s Western-wear store has been a fixture in downtown Cheyenne since the 1950s, but it broke down four years ago and efforts to fix it failed. Now a Cheyenne family rebuilt the horse in time for Cheyenne Frontier Days.

The Wrangler’s Galloping Horse Will Ride Again in Cheyenne

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

A Lovell woman is being charged with felony child abuse after doctors found a young child suffering from severe burns, brain hemorrhages, a possible skull fracture and numerous other injuries that medical experts concluded were consistent with physical abuse.

Richellena Alana Vinita Lorraine Rule-Monroy, born in 1999, was arrested Friday on a warrant charging her with aggravated child abuse for causing serious bodily injury to a child under her care.

She was scheduled to have an initial appearance when a judge will formally read her single charge at 1:30 p.m. Monday in Park County Circuit Court. 

The child, a boy born in 2022, was living with Rule-Monroy when the injuries came to light. The child's father was reportedly away, working out of town that week.

After the child was placed into protective custody, investigators say he later told a certified foster parent Rule-Monroy poured hot water on his ear because he was "ugly.” The burn eventually required the child to be flown to the University of Utah Burn Center for specialized treatment. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Hospital Visit Raises Alarm"}]

The investigation began July 2 when Rule-Monroy brought the child to the emergency department at Powell Valley Hospital, according to a criminal affidavit filed by Park County Prosecuting Attorney Bryan Skoric.

Rule-Monroy told investigators she accidentally splashed the child with hot water the night before while making oatmeal. She said she had removed a pan of hot water from the stove without realizing the child was standing nearby, causing the water to splash onto his left ear.

What initially appeared to be an accidental burn quickly raised red flags.

Deputies, a Department of Family Services caseworker and hospital staff noticed bruises, scrapes and other injuries covering much of the child's body that they believed could not be explained by the reported accident.

A forensic nurse documented an extensive list of injuries, including partial-thickness burns to the child's left ear, blisters, bruises and abrasions across his face, arms, legs, back and buttocks, bruising around one eye, bruising to the genital area, a skin tear near the gluteal cleft and a corneal abrasion to his left eye, according to the affidavit.

[{"type":"text","text":"Brain Bleeds, Skull Fracture"}]

As physicians looked more closely, the child's condition appeared even more serious.

A CT scan revealed possible subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhages, a scalp hematoma and what doctors described as a possible nondisplaced occipital skull fracture. The child was admitted to the hospital while physicians specializing in child abuse medicine evaluated his injuries.

"Overall I think the multitude of these findings suggest strongly that this child is likely to be a victim of physical abuse," Dr. Kelly Christensen wrote.

The physician also questioned why the child had not been brought to the hospital immediately after the burn allegedly occurred and noted bruises and abrasions in various stages of healing — findings that, noted in the affidavit, suggested the injuries did not all occur at the same time.

Prosecutors allege Rule-Monroy's explanation that the child was accidentally splashed while she was making oatmeal failed to account for the extent and variety of injuries documented by medical staff.

[{"type":"text","text":"Child's Statements"}]

The child later told law enforcement Rule-Monroy threw him down the stairs and poured hot water onto his left ear, causing him to cry.

[{"type":"text","text":"Days later, the his condition worsened."}]

On July 8, he was flown to the University of Utah Burn Center. The next day, specialists with Intermountain Children's Health's Primary Children's Hospital Safe and Healthy Families child abuse and neglect team examined him.

Those specialists concluded that the child's third-degree burns to his ear were non-accidental, documented by the affidavit.

Detectives wrote that the investigation into the child's additional injuries remains ongoing.

Aggravated child abuse is a felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.

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<title>Lovell Woman Charged With Felony For Allegedly Burning Child, Fracturing Skull | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Lovell woman is being charged with felony child abuse after doctors found a young child suffering from severe burns, brain hemorrhages, possible skull fracture and other injuries that medical experts concluded were consistent with physical abuse.

Lovell Woman Charged With Felony For Allegedly Burning Child, Fracturing Skull

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

Public Safety

 for a North Carolina husband and father who disappeared in Wyoming's Snake River over the Fourth of July weekend came to an end Saturday after campers spotted his body floating in the water.

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office announced that Tory J. Raether, 55, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was recovered Saturday morning in the McCoy Creek area.

Star Valley Search & Rescue Commander Matt McMurdo said campers noticed Raether's body from the shoreline around 11:30 a.m. They paddle-boarded out to him before calling authorities.

Search-and-rescue crews, who had been back on the river Saturday morning, responded quickly and recovered Raether's body.

Raether disappeared July 4 after jumping into the river without a life jacket at Jump Rock, a popular recreation area about 3½ miles east of Alpine.

Members of his group tried unsuccessfully to rescue him after he began struggling against the swift current.

Since then, Star Valley Search & Rescue had searched the river and nearby reservoir using drones, rafts, a jet boat, jet skis and, later in the week, search dogs.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Bring Him Home'"}]

Earlier in the week, Lincoln County Sheriff M. Shane Johnson told Cowboy State Daily the mission had transitioned from a rescue operation to a recovery effort.

"The goal is to find their family member and return him to them, so they can have closure," Johnson said.

That goal remained constant as Raether's wife, Jean, daughters Grace and Melanie, close friends and other loved ones traveled to Wyoming to wait for answers.

Among them was Brad Johnson, Raether's best friend of 35 years, who had planned to help search alongside another lifelong friend and Raether's daughter's boyfriend, a rafting guide familiar with the river.

[{"type":"text","text":"Saturday afternoon, Johnson shared the news many had feared."}]

"With a heavy heart, I wanted to let everyone know that Tory has been found," he wrote to his friends. "Thank you to everyone who reached out with texts, calls, and messages during these difficult days. Your love and support have meant more to me and to Tory's family than we can express."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Deeply Loved "}]

During the search, friends described Raether as a devoted husband, father and mentor whose kindness left a lasting impression on nearly everyone he met.

"Tory wasn't just a friend to me — he was like a brother," Johnson told Cowboy State Daily. "He was one of those rare people who made life brighter simply by walking into a room."

Johnson said Raether built a successful career as an investment professional, volunteered through Kiwanis and Rotary, mentored others and was always looking for ways to help those around him.

"The world needs more people like Tory," he said. "He lived with joy, loved freely, and gave far more than he ever expected in return."

Julia Joy Raether, Tory's former sister-in-law, said she remained close to the family even after her marriage to his brother ended years ago.

"Tory was deeply loved by everyone who knew him," she told Cowboy State Daily. "He was kind, generous, adventurous, and had a quiet strength that drew people to him."

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

She said the tragedy was especially personal because her youngest son was with Tory when they entered the river.

"My son made it out. Tory did not," she said. "Our family has been living through the uncertainty, hoping for a miracle while also coming to terms with the reality of how powerful that river is."

For a week, Raether's family watched search crews work the Snake River, holding onto hope while preparing for the worst.

Now, with his recovery complete, they can bring him home.

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<title>Body Of North Carolina Man Recovered From Snake River After Weeklong Search | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The body of Tory Raether was found in the Snake River a week after leaping into the swift currents. Family and friends remember Raether as a devoted husband, father and mentor. "The world needs more people like Tory," close friend Brad Johnson said.

Body Of North Carolina Man Recovered From Snake River After Weeklong Search

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, July 10th.  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"}],"text":"–"}]

A tourist was seriously injured Friday evening after being thrown 8 feet into the air by a bull bison in Yellowstone National Park. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that professional photographer Mike Macleod filmed the incident and said the bison was “angry, agitated and charging anything and everything.”

“The victim did nothing wrong. The narrative that's been circulating across social media is that this was another quote-unquote Touron or idiot doing something wrong in the park, and that can and does happen. But looking at the video evidence, the victim did nothing to provoke the bison. They were a safe distance away, at least in theory. This bison had been causing trouble in the Bridge Bay campground for a while before he showed up.  The victim and his grandson tried to put something between themselves and the bison when it ran towards them, and that just wasn't enough. The bison in this case was the instigator.”

MacLeod was camping at the Bridge Bay Campground when his wife pointed out the bull bison entering the area. He grabbed his camera and started shooting from a safe distance.

Meanwhile, footage of the incident has become an international sensation with news organizations all over the U.S. and the world referencing Cowboy State Daily’s article. Reporter Andrew Rossi was the first to cover the story and to get an interview with the photographer. The video has been viewed millions of times.

A Mexican national who faces eight felonies is attempting to stay in the country after he allegedly tried to ram travelers off the road in Snake River Canyon in June of 2024. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that one victim says that 46-year-old Ramon Gabriel Chavez Cruz, “deliberately crossed the centerline and targeted our vehicle.”

“His Teton County case just concluded with what they call a split sentence. He spends 180 days in jail, tries probation for three years. If he fails probation, he goes to prison for like two and a half to four and a half years. But he already has enough time served that that initial 180-day stint is eclipsed. The trooper recounted that he was basically trying to head-on collide with multiple people. Most of that happened in Lincoln County, one of the alleged victims from Lincoln County, was flabbergasted at the 180-day sentence in Teton County, but it's just not over yet. And as for the visa, his defense attorney was describing it as if he's been the victim of a crime and is working to stay in the country in relation to that somehow.”

Chavez Cruz faces potentially much harsher consequences in Lincoln County, where County Attorney Spencer Allred has filed eight counts of aggravated assault against him – one for each person he allegedly charged with his truck. 

A Gillette woman's plans for one last summer road trip with her dying daughter have been derailed by a failed transmission in their 26-year-old SUV. But Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that London Tabor says she’s not giving up hope to take this trip with her daughter.

“Her daughter has Huntington's disease, and it's quickly sapping her life, and so they plan to go to the East Coast, plan to go rock hunting in Wyoming, and to a Huntington disease event that's in Utah, and all of that was on hold because she didn't have a vehicle. So, she's trying to rent a camper that would be able to facilitate taking her daughter, who now can't do anything except sit in a seat and watch. So she was hoping that she can get this trip accomplished, and have great memories with her this summer.”

Autumn was diagnosed with the disease in 2018 at age 12, which also is the same year that her father, Justin Fender, died from the same condition at age 36. 

Green River's Bradlee Skinner was homeless, delivering pizzas, and wondering how his life had unraveled. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that now he performs before sold-out crowds with the Savannah Bananas, baseball's wildly popular entertainment phenomenon. And it all started with a selfie.

“In 2024, Bradley Skinner, he's a high school teacher at Green River, teaches theater in English, and he took a group of theater students to Salt Lake City to see the Savannah Bananas. And while they were all getting their pictures taken with the players in the parking lot before the game, Skinner heard a DJ. He knew there was a DJ nearby, and he himself is a DJ. So he went and sought out that guy and took a picture with him. And the guy noticed, and they started up a conversation about DJing. And so fast forward a year, and that DJ reached out and said, "Hey, I think you should try out. They're doing auditions because they're growing their teams. They're adding new teams, and they need a few more DJs in their back pocket. So that's really how it all got started with a selfie.”

The job has taken him from Wyoming classrooms to iconic ballparks such as Coors Field in Denver and soon Wrigley Field in Chicago, where he rubs shoulders with performers and entertainers he once showed his students as examples of creative excellence.

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

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

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

So many dead trees are piling up on Wyoming’s remote wilderness trails, some outfitters say they should be allowed to use chainsaws to clear them rather than working for days with hand tools. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that chainsaws have been banned from those areas for 62 years.

“The Forest Service kind of created a little loophole and allowed some outfitters in this spring in Idaho, in the Frank Church wilderness, and so now some people are saying, "Hey, we need to start doing this kind of all over the West, just letting a few people get in, because we just, we can't keep ahead of this timber otherwise, because under the strict rules of wilderness, you have to go in there like the old-fashioned push-pull saws or an ax or whatever, and some people are saying that with the sheer volume, what we got there, which we're never going to get ahead of it, and of course, opponents are saying no.”

Pine beetle epidemics have torn through forests across the West, leaving dead trees everywhere. They frequently fall over on trails, or blow over in huge piles.

The Forest Service and volunteer trail associations across Wyoming 

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

A trespasser trying illegally to make a copy of rare dinosaur footprints on the “Paleo Park” Zerbst Ranch near Newcastle ended up vandalizing the site. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that owner Kristen Stauffer says she was “shell-shocked.”

“Apparently, someone trespassed onto their property, poured blue silicone into one of the tracks in the attempt to make a copy of it, and then just abandoned the scene with the silicone still in the track, now they have been able to remove most of it. But setting aside the fact that there could be permanent damage from that, it's the fact that somebody violated their trust. That if this person had asked them if they could make a copy of their dinosaur footprint, they would have been all for it.”

Setting aside the enormous scientific value of the fossil, Stauffer was “heartbroken” by the blatant disregard for her family’s history. The Zerbst Trackway was found by her father, Leonard, and has enormous personal significance to her and her family.

Laramie 9-year-old elk caller Axl Anton is set to compete against teens nearly twice his age in the world elk calling championship this month. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that Axl’s already "in the top five best callers in the country, if not the best,” said a hunting industry insider.

“His dad said he took an interest in it when he was about two, called in his first bull when he was six, and he's been in several contests now. He's going to the world elk calling contest that's held at Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's headquarters in Missoula, Montana. The kid is young enough to compete in the Peewee division, but he said he doesn't want to do that, he wants to step up and compete with the big kids, so he's going to be competing with kids that are about high school age. He already is almost considered world class at the ripe old age of nine, so just kind of a cool story”

Archery elk hunters use tube-shaped calls to imitate the grunts, screams and bugles of bull elk during the rut, or mating season. The idea is to sound as much like a bull elk as possible. So, the real bulls, thinking a challenger is in their territory, will move in to investigate.

[{"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 7 13 26

<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Monday, July 13, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Monday's headlines include:
* Tourist Injured By Bison
* Last Trip For Mom & Dying Daughter
* Mexican National Furious Canyon Rampage

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Monday, July 13, 2026

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

Renée Jean

Around Wyoming

Mortar rounds were once code-named “Tootsie Rolls” during the Korean War. But no one was diving for cover at the National Museum of Military Vehicles when the Tootsie Rolls started falling in Dubois alongside big, fat raindrops.

A candy drop at the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois was more than just fun for kids. It honored the "Frozen Chosin" Marines who depended on Tootsie Rolls for calories, field repairs and sheer survival on minus-40 degree days in the Korean War.

Bonus Video 1: Tuesday, December 3, 2024

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