One More For The Road

[{"type":"text","text":"Maximum damage, minimal effort....."}]

One more for 2 6 25

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

<title>One More For The Road: Thursday, February 6, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Maximum damage, minimal effort.....

One More For The Road: Thursday, February 6, 2025

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

Andrew Rossi

Wyoming Life

Entertainment

Fifty years ago, the highlight of the Cody Stampede Parade marking America’s bicentennial celebration was a 30-foot-long .30-30 Winchester rifle, dominating a float that also carried legendary Western actor John Wayne.

[{"type":"text","text":"That rifle has been sitting atop a storefront in downtown Cody since. "}]

Everyone loves the giant Winchester, so they might have noticed when it recently suddenly disappeared from the roof where it had been prominently displayed since its trip down Sheridan Avenue decades earlier.

Like John Wayne himself, Cody’s giant Winchester rifle is coming back, better than ever, for another 50 years dominating Cody’s historic downtown.

“We're putting it back to what it was in 1976, as best we can,” said Mike Darby, owner of the Irma Hotel and the giant Winchester. “I can’t confirm or deny what we’re going to do with it, but we’re hoping to have it done by July 3.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Fully Loaded"}]

It’s 1976, and the United States is starting down the barrel of its 200th anniversary. The Buffalo Bill Museum, now the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, decided to add its own ammunition to an already-loaded celebration.

July 4 was selected for the opening of the lavish Cody Firearms Museum. The addition of a massive Winchester collection, on loan from the Olin Corp., made it the world's largest firearms museum at the time.

Adding to the excitement, the museum would be dedicated by the grand marshal of that year’s Cody Stampede Parade: “The Duke” himself, John Wayne.

The Husky Oil Co., founded in Cody in 1938, decided to make its own big contribution to the festivities.

What better to celebrate the bicentennial, Wayne, and the Cody Firearms Museum than with a giant replica of one of the American West’s most iconic firearms?

Denny Shore was the head of Husky Oil’s activities committee at the time. His wife, Sue, remembers it well.

“The theme for the parade that year was ‘Celebrating Winchester: The Gun That Won the West,’” she said. “Denny decided to call the people who make parade floats and asked if they could do a giant Winchester. They said yes, so they did.”

Shore doesn’t remember what company built the humongous rifle, but she remembers when it arrived on a flatbed trailer and was parked in front of her house.

“I loved it,” she said. “I'm a gun nut, and I have a .30-30 Winchester that I always hunted with. I feel like it was my own, and we were sharing it.”

Cody resident and photographer Dewey Vanderhoff was hired by the Olin Corp. to get photos of the parade, Wayne, and the rifle.

“Katy Brown's ‘Buffalo Bill Dollies’ can-can girls danced in front of the big Winchester rifle at its public debut at the airport,” he said. “Everyone was there waiting for John Wayne's ceremonial arrival on a Boeing 727 jet with his entourage and family.”

As the Cody Stampede Parade cruised down Sheridan Avenue, the Winchester was the center of attention. If that wasn’t enough, Wayne was riding on the same float.

Most parade floats quickly disappear when they reach the end of the route, but there was a brighter future for the giant Winchester.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Everything Under The Gun'"}]

After its centerpiece moment in the parade, the giant Winchester was stored at the Husky Oil Refinery in Cody.

A few years later, Cody business owner Jack Skates opened Jack's Sports & OK Hardware at 1137 12th St. right next to the Irma. The store came with the giant Winchester on the roof, where it had ended up after leaving Husky Oil.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Their motto was ‘Everything Under The Gun,’” Shore said."}]

While the storefront changed hands multiple times in the next four decades, the rifle stayed right where it was. However, even the gun was under the gun.

Bob Carter owned one of the businesses, The Gunrunner, that occupied the space. He shared some details on the unique rooftop sculpture with 

“It was only constructed for temporary display,” he said. “Some parts were made from cardboard. It held up for many years, but eventually required renovation and replacement with more permanent materials.”

Carter added that the giant Winchester was a replica of a 1968 Winchester 94 Buffalo Bill .30-30 rifle, making all the more appropriate for Cody’s bicentennial celebration.

Any knowledgeable gun owner knows firearms need regular care and upkeep. Even with more permanent parts, 50 years of exposure on a Cody rooftop made the larger-than-life Winchester a little worse for wear.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Giant Gun Restoration"}]

In May, the giant Winchester disappeared from the rooftop of 1137 12th St. It’s now getting some much-needed refurbishment.

Darby said the rifle was acquired by the Irma Hotel when it bought the building it was sitting on in the 1990s.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It came at no extra charge,” he said."}]

Darby said the giant Winchester was in especially sorry shape going into this summer. If it was going to survive, it needed some help.

“The recent windstorms were hard on it, plus 50 years of weather damage,” he said. “It was about to fall off the building, so we got a crane to lift it up and put it on a trailer.”

The giant Winchester has since been dismantled and, essentially, rebuilt. Darby said everything that can be replaced is being replaced and reenforced.

“The barrel and the levels are made of wood, so we’re replacing what’s needed and putting better supports on the inside,” he said. “After dismantling it, we felt we could repair and improve it.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Is dismantling a 30-foot Winchester rifle anything like the real thing?"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“Not at all,” Darby said."}]

While they were working on the giant Winchester, Darby started looking at photos from the 1976 parade. He realized that there had been noticeable changes in the 50 years since its construction.

Since they had already dismantled it, Darby and his crew decided to restore it to its glory days (or “day”) in July 1976.

“The action on the gun was sort of a goldish bronze as it sat on the roof, but it was black in the photos from 1976,” he said, and there were several bands that went around the barrel to the stock that were bronze. "We're going to paint those back to their original colors, or at least as close as we can get.”

If it’s already off the roof and being refurbished, why not take it for another slow spin through town?

The Cody Stampede Parade will kick off at 9:30 a.m. on July 3, so the giant Winchester will be ready for a glorious return on the 50th anniversary of its arrival.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I can neither admit nor deny that rumor,” Darby said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Reloaded For Another Century"}]

Between June 30 and July 4, there will be a cavalcade of patriotic events and celebrations in Cody. The Cody Stampede Rodeo runs from July 1-4, and there will be three parades.

Darby encouraged patriotic parade fans to stick around for a day or two after the 250th celebration. The giant Winchester will cap off the festivities with another triumphant return.

“We’re putting right back on the building on July 5 or 6,” he said. “Hopefully, it’ll be there for the next 50 years.”

Giant Winchester Doug and Tebbie Heny Picture3

<title>What The Heck … Is That 30-Foot-Long Winchester On Top Of A Building In Cody? | Cowboy State Daily</title>

On July 4, 1976, John Wayne paraded through Cody with a 30-foot-long Winchester rifle. 50 years later, that rifle was still sitting on a rooftop next to the Irma Hotel until it was temporarily taken down but it will make its glorious return by July 4.

What The Heck … Is That 30-Foot-Long Winchester On Top Of A Building In Cody?

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Government & Politics

Politics

In the latest twist in efforts to ban 3D-printed “ghost guns,” New York state and California have moved to ban printers capable of making them. 

A New York law signed last month states that 3D printers should come with technology blocking them from making firearms or firearms parts. A similar measure is before the California Legislature. 

The gun-blocking technology for printers might not be available until 2029 at the earliest, the 

Gun control advocates are hailing the printer ban as a way to get a handle on so-called “ghost guns,” or untraceable firearms made with 3D printers and lacking serial numbers.

Advocates for banning 3D-printed guns argue that those guns are increasingly being used in crimes.

In Wyoming, a gun rights advocate and 3D printing business owner told Cowboy State Daily that the California and New York measures are pointless. 

People have always made their own firearms and should have the right to do so, said Mark Jones of Buffalo, a national director for Gun Owners of America (GOA). 

Banning 3D-printed guns, or the printers that make them, won’t change that, he said. 

From a technical standpoint, the bans won’t work, said Kevin Thomas, owner of T&G 3D Printing in Basin.

As he sees it, there’s no way to make printers that won’t produce certain items. Printers will produce whatever they’re programed to.

“The printer itself can’t determine what is being printed,” he said. 

The New York law and California bill direct experts to craft algorithms that could detect firearm blueprints. 

Hypothetically, the technology would analyze 3D printing designs against a digital library of firearm parts, and reject those that match the parts. 

Some industry experts have told lawmakers in those states that won’t work. 

Thomas agreed, saying that’s because 3D printer operators would still have the final say through “G-codes” they enter in their machines telling them what geometric shapes to cut. 

Trying to control G-codes would not only be impractical, but it would also amount to an infringement on freedom of speech and expression, Thomas said. 

Moreover, major firearms manufacturers such as Smith & Wesson also use gun-design software, he said, adding that efforts to regulate firearms out of the 3D printing world will backfire. 

“What will end up happening is there just won’t be any 3D printers for sale in California, so people there will just go across state lines to get them,” he said.

Firearms parts or accessories can be 3D-printed for sale, except lower receivers, Thomas said. The lower receiver is the part of the firearm including, for instance, the trigger assembly. 

Lower receivers can be created for personal use only. 

Thomas said he doesn’t print firearms parts or accessories because of possible legal complications.

For example, if he made a rifle stock for a customer, and that stock became part of a firearm that was later used in a murder, that might come back on him, he said. 

Jones said that concern over “ghost guns” is hyperbolic. 

“People have been making their own firearms since 1776,” he said. 

Democrats have also tried using firearms serial numbers to create databases for a national firearms registry, Jones added.

“It’s actually illegal to keep a registry of what guns people have, and we think it should be,” he said. 

Ghost gun 6 19 26

<title>California, New York Aim To Ban 3D Printers That Can Make ‘Ghost Guns’ | Cowboy State Daily</title>

In the latest twist in efforts to ban 3D-printed “ghost guns,” lawmakers in New York and California are pushing to ban printers capable of making them.  From a technical standpoint, the bans won’t work, said Kevin Thomas, owner of T&G 3D Printing in Basin.

California, New York Aim To Ban 3D Printers That Can Make ‘Ghost Guns’

You Still Here

The robber didn't know they were off duty cops, as narrated by MMA announcer, Steve Inman.....

Inman no play 6 20 26

<title>Steve Inman: Saturday, June 20, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Steve Inman: Saturday, June 20, 2026

Guest Column

Guest Columnists

Last week a healthcare summit held in Laramie discussed a problem most of us have seen for 40 years; the problems created when government health programs do not pay the cost of the care.

Since the early 1980’s when the federal government realized that their Medicare aspirations were bigger than their budgets, the feds tried various ways to contain costs.  

Basically, they pay for healthcare using arbitrary rates.  The initial shock of this was severe enough to cause some doctor training programs across the United States to empty, with virtually no applicants for some specialties.  Today’s doctor shortages are the delayed result of the early 1990’s.

By paying less than the cost of the care, government programs are indiscernible from shoplifting.  It is not the fault of the patients, but rather the political leaders who pretended that this was sustainable coverage.  Medicare Advantage exacerbates this problem by using narrow networks and in many cases paying even less than Medicare.  In most states, Medicaid pays the least of all, even less, sometimes as low as half of Medicare payments.

Imagine a grocery store where 60% of their stock was taken out the door at a loss.  How long would it stay open?  The fact that hospitals and doctors are still providing care forty years later is testament to compassion, ingenuity and work ethics.  But we may have come to the end of the line.  

Almost half of rural hospitals lost money last year.  Smaller communities have more older people on Medicare.  We want to provide care for them, but we have the costs of rent, staff and supplies, none of which are cheaper than forty years ago.

It is unlikely that we can fix this problem at the federal level soon enough to save our state’s hospitals from these financial stresses.  But at the state level this is possible.  Offsetting the losses of rural and “sole community” hospitals, where there is only one hospital in town, with state resources is a good value for taxpayers.  Why?

In addition to providing healthcare, Wyoming hospitals are usually one of the top three employers in their town.  Losing these jobs has a devastating impact on a town’s current economy.  Prospects for the future economy also suffer as it is less likely to attract new businesses as 

.  Wyoming healthcare supports over 40,000 jobs and generates $76 million in state tax revenue.  If we cover the state’s hospital losses annually the new net cost to Wyoming would be less than $20 million, and possibly nothing when factoring in the impact of lost tax revenue.

Recently the topic of international trade deficits has been discussed.  But at a state level, Wyoming suffers a trade deficit where we send out almost $3 billion annually in healthcare premiums.   Wyoming clinics and hospitals bring back this exported money in the form of several billion dollars annually.  Healthcare for the state’s citizens provided outside the state grows this deficit.

Direct support for Wyoming’s 25 public hospitals operating at a loss pays for itself.  The current system causes this problem, and it is not these hospitals’ fault that they lose money.  Our legislature is smart and nimble enough to fix this problem.  

[{"type":"text","text":"John Mansell, MD"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Trustee, Campbell County Health"}]

John mansell landscape 6 19 26

<title>Guest Column: Wyoming Can Save Its Rural Hospitals | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Dr. John Mansell writes, "Direct support for Wyoming’s 25 public hospitals operating at a loss pays for itself. The current system causes this problem, and it is not these hospitals’ fault that they lose money. Our legislature is smart and nimble enough to fix this problem."

Guest Column: Wyoming Can Save Its Rural Hospitals

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

A Montana police officer spotted the giant banana rolling through Billings on Wednesday afternoon and did what countless law enforcement officers have done before him.

[{"type":"text","text":"He turned around and pulled it over."}]

For Steve Braithwaite, owner, builder and full-time driver of the 23-foot-long Big Banana Car, the stop was less of a surprise than a tradition.

"I would see a police car going the other way and get my documents ready," Braithwaite told Cowboy State Daily from Seattle on Thursday morning. "I knew they were going to loop around and pull me over." 

After 15 years, more than 250,000 miles and enough roadside conversations to fill a produce aisle, Braithwaite has learned that driving a giant banana attracts attention.

[{"type":"text","text":"Especially from cops."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"They always find a reason to pull me over,\" Braithwaite said. "}]

in this case it was an issue with the license plate, but ultimately he was not given a ticket.  

Braithwaite figures he may have spent the better part of a decade as one of the most frequently pulled-over drivers in America.

[{"type":"text","text":"Not for speeding, but simply because he was driving a giant banana."}]

"For the first eight or nine years I was the most pulled-over man in America," he said. "It was constant."

[{"type":"text","text":"Often officers simply wanted photographs."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Other times they invented reasons to start a conversation."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"His favorite stop happened in a small mountain town in West Virginia."}]

A traffic light turned red. Braithwaite stopped. The light turned green and he made a leisurely turn through the intersection.

[{"type":"text","text":"A few moments later, flashing lights appeared behind him."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"A police officer marched up to the banana and delivered the news."}]

"'The reason I pulled you over, that light back there, you peeled out.'"

[{"type":"text","text":"For a moment, Braithwaite didn't know if he was being serious or not."}]

"He said it so straight-faced," Braithwaite recalled. "And I'm like, 'Oh yeah.'"

[{"type":"text","text":"The banana jokes, he said, are \"never-ending.\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Fortunately, so are the laughs."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"How It All Started"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The whole thing began in a gas station in 2008."}]

Braithwaite, a lifelong hot-rod enthusiast, had become bored attending car shows.

Then he watched an episode of the British television show "Top Gear" featuring bizarre custom-built vehicles, including a street-legal garden shed and a drivable couch.

[{"type":"text","text":"For the next month, his brain worked overtime."}]

"Everything I looked at, I thought, 'can I turn that into a car?'" he said. "My drill, my neighbor's lawn mower, everything."

Then one day he found himself standing beside a bowl of fruit in a gas station. 

[{"type":"text","text":"On top sat a banana."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Not the curved cartoon banana he'd always pictured, but a straighter one."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Suddenly, he could see it."}]

"The windshield would go there. The wheels would go there."

[{"type":"text","text":"Then came the moment that changed everything."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I pictured it driving down the road and died laughing,\" he said."}]

The image captivated him so completely that the checkout line moved without him noticing.

"The lady directly behind me had to tap me on the shoulder," he said. "They must have been thinking, 'Oh my God, is that the first banana he's ever seen?'"

[{"type":"text","text":"His rule was simple."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"If it makes me laugh now, I'm going to do it.\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"It still made him laugh."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"So he built it."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"What he expected to be a parade novelty became his daily driver."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The truck beneath the banana has now traveled more than 250,000 miles."}]

"I didn't think I'd be driving it anywhere near as much as I am," he said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Roaming In Wyoming"}]

Braithwaite didn't stop in Wyoming on this trip. He was headed west toward Washington.

[{"type":"text","text":"But Wyoming still occupies an important place in banana history."}]

Several years ago, while crossing the state, the Big Banana Car suddenly died alongside a lonely stretch of highway.

"I hadn't realized the distances between towns," he said. "I was in the middle of nowhere."

Parked beside the highway, luggage scattered around him. He "managed to get it running again."

By then he was running out of time to get to Los Angeles for a TV appearance, so he left in a hurry. 

[{"type":"text","text":"But he says there's a chance he might come back."}]

Braithwaite wants to race the famous Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, and why not in the Rockies?

He has already challenged it, but he says he thinks Kraft won't go for it. 

Sooner or later, he figures, some reporter would ask a dangerous question.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Instead of which is the quicker vehicle, which is the healthier food?\""}]

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

[{"type":"text","text":"\"And they're going to lose that.\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"World Needs More Whimsy"}]

Casper car enthusiast Tom Morton says he is curious about the drag race with Oscar Mayer's wiener. 

"What's next?" Morton asks, "Asparagus street rods?" Overall, he says "I like it." 

[{"type":"text","text":"What began as a joke has evolved into something larger."}]

Braithwaite recently drove the banana into Mexico, where he was pulled over five times in three days.

[{"type":"text","text":"Every encounter was friendly, he says. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Now he's thinking much bigger."}]

His goal is to drive the Big Banana Car through Central America; somehow get it shipped across oceans and eventually circle the globe.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I just want to keep going,\" he said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"He's calling the adventure \"The World Needs More Whimsy Grand Tour.\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"A sign mounted to the back of the vehicle carries the slogan."}]

"The world is dangerously low on whimsy," says the man hoping to make a difference. 

Banana montana highway patrol 6 18 26

<title>Giant Banana Pulled Over in Montana: Driver Says Cops Have Stopped Him 100s Of Times | Cowboy State Daily</title>

For 15 years, Steve Braithwaite has driven a 23-foot banana across the country and, on Wednesday, just like hundreds of times before, he was pulled over by law enforcement. "They always find a reason to pull me over," Braithwaite said.

Giant Banana Pulled Over in Montana: Driver Says Cops Have Stopped Him 100s Of Times

Business

Agriculture

There's a big bee emergency in Yellowstone National Park after a semi-truck carrying dozens of beehives crashed Tuesday.

Dalton Broadus of West Yellowstone, Montana, was driving north along U.S. Highway 191 around 9 a.m. Tuesday when he drove past the scene.

A semitruck carrying millions of honeybees flipped over on U.S. Highway 191 in Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday. Cheyenne beekeeper Michael Jordan called the scene "a devastating loss" of hundreds of thousands of dollars to the owners of the bees.

One More For The Road: Thursday, February 6, 2025

In case you missed it

More in One More For The Road

One More For The Road: Sunday, June 21, 2026

One More For The Road: Saturday, June 20, 2026

One More For The Road: Friday, June 19, 2026

One More For The Road: Thursday, June 18, 2026

Most read