Daily Darwin

[{"type":"text","text":"The real reason for security cams....."}]

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

<title>Daily Darwin: Friday, March 7, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The real reason for security cams.....

Daily Darwin: Friday, March 7, 2025

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

Clair McFarland

Politics

Days after a religious clash exploded on the Wind River Indian Reservation, the Northern Arapaho Tribe’s government says it has adopted a new policy requiring ministry and charitable groups to get tribal authorization for their work on the reservation.

The Northern Arapaho Business Council (NABC), which is the tribe’s six-person leadership board, posted an announcement about the new policy to social media Monday.

The announcement says the policy is “reaffirming the Northern Arapaho Tribe’s inherent sovereign authority to require consultation and governmental authorizations seeking to conduct recurring ministries, charitable services, outreach programs, and other organized activities on lands under the jurisdiction of the Northern Arapaho Tribe.”

This controversy started July 5, when Christian pastor Sarah Lucas, of Foundations for Nations, preached 

against some of the tribe’s Sundance ceremonies

 involving a pipe relic as a prayer centerpiece. She had indicated praying "to pipes" is idolatry. 

She had said, “a pipe cannot hear your prayers,” and “we know that Jesus is enough.”

Foundations for Nations falls within the exterior boundaries of the Wind River Indian Reservation but it sits on private, not tribal land. It has been ministering in Fremont County for nearly a decade, and runs a food pantry in town as well as kids' programs. 

. Lucas refused, telling Cowboy State Daily she’s sorry the sermon came off as an attack, but not sorry for preaching from the Bible.

[{"type":"text","text":" “Jesus is the only way,” she said."}]

The board’s announcement says that the tribe’s records department reviewed records to see if Foundations for Nations had ever received authorization from the tribal government “to conduct recurring organized ministry or outreach activities on the Reservation.”

The review found no documentation that the church is authorized to work on the reservation, says the announcement.

NABC Chair Keenan Groesbeck has told the church that the tribe requests consultation “before any expansion of recurring ministry activities under the new policy,” the announcement says. 

The tribe has invited “the organization” to meet with the NABC by July 25 to discuss its mission, leadership, funding, activities, and “any documentation it believes demonstrates authorization to operate on lands under Tribal jurisdiction.”

It may be a point of debate whether private land surrounded by tribal trust lands falls within tribal jurisdiction, and if so, for what purposes. It’s unclear if the tribe’s new policy is constitutional.

“This policy is not about preventing anyone from practicing their religion,” Groesbeck said in the statement. “It is about respecting the sovereign government of the Northern Arapaho Tribe. Any outside organization seeking to conduct organized activities within our jurisdiction should first communicate with the elected leadership of our Nation and work in partnership with the Tribe.”

NABC says in the statement that the policy will apply uniformly to outside groups.

[{"type":"text","text":"Lucas declined Tuesday to comment. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Constitution, Law"}]

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, in part, that Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech or the freedom of the people to assemble peaceably.

After the American Civil War, Congress passed the 14th Amendment to expand those prohibitions to state governments. Neither amendment imposed restrictions on tribal governments’ ability to impede the free exercise of religion or speech, or other listed rights.

A century later in 1968, Congress imposed some – but not all – Bill of Rights restrictions on tribal governments through the Indian Civil Rights Act. The law protects rights similar to the U.S. Constitution’s first, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth amendments, and portions of the 14th Amendment.

“No Indian tribe in exercising powers of self-government shall… make or enforce any law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition for a redress of grievances,” the law says. 

Disputes have surfaced over the years, regarding just how much Congress can regulate tribal governments.

The U.S. Constitution delegates just one congressional authority over tribes: “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.”

Curiously, tribal governments were some of the strongest proponents of interpreting the “Indian Commerce Clause” to give Congress broad power over American Indian tribes.  

That advocacy unfolded during the U.S. Supreme Court case Brackeen v. Haaland, which contemplated whether a federal law giving tribes primacy over Native child custody matters is constitutional.

The high court found it constitutional. It took a broad view of the Indian Commerce Clause to do so.

“As we already explained, our precedent states that Congress’s power under the Indian Commerce Clause encompasses not only trade but also ‘Indian affairs,’” says the majority opinion, by Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

[{"type":"text","text":"Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a dissenting opinion proclaiming overreach."}]

By passing a law governing tribal custody matters, “Congress ignored the normal limits on the Federal Government’s power and prescribed rules to regulate state child custody proceedings in one circumstance: when the child in volved happens to be an Indian,” he wrote.  

Thomas said the majority opinion “gets things backwards. When Congress has so clearly intruded upon a longstanding domain of exclusive state powers, we must ask not whether a constitutional provision prohibits that intrusion, but whether a constitutional provision authorizes it.”

Foundations for nations 7 21 26

<title>After Church Blowup, Arapaho Tribe Says No 'Ministries' Without Permission | Cowboy State Daily</title>

After Church Blowup, Arapaho Tribe Says No 'Ministries' Without Permission

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Outdoors

Jory Thomas, 14, was absent-mindedly flipping loops with a rope while visiting his grandparents' campground on the Yellowstone River over the Fourth of July weekend when he heard someone start screaming for help.

Within seconds, the Montana ranch kid emptied his pockets, splashed across a side channel and waded chest-deep into the river.

[{"type":"text","text":"Then he did something he'd spent the past year practicing on calves."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"This time, he roped a drowning man."}]

The July 5 rescue unfolded so quickly that by the time the first Sweet Grass County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived three minutes after Jory's father called 911, everyone was already safely on shore.

"My opinion, Jory saved the individual's life, 100%," Sweet Grass County Sheriff Alan Ronneberg told Cowboy State Daily. "Had Jory not acted, I believe the chances of this individual not making it to shore were very slim.”'

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Boat Hits A Bridge"}]

The Thomas family lives on a ranch about a dozen miles outside Big Timber, directly across from a campground where Jory's grandparents had been staying for the week.

Jory wandered over to visit with his parents and grandparents that afternoon, a rope already in his hand as he casually practiced throwing loops.

"All of a sudden he heard some yells for help," Jory's father, Jase Thomas, told Cowboy State Daily.

A boat had struck a bridge pillar, throwing its occupants into the Yellowstone River.

Three people fell in, but only two managed to get out, leaving one person alone in the swift current, desperately clinging to a cooler.

[{"type":"text","text":"Jory didn't hesitate."}]

Somehow, said his father, he convinced the drowning man to let go of the cooler. Then he threw the rope, catching the man around the neck and one arm. 

Jory and another bystander then pulled the man safely to shore before emergency responders arrived. 

In the moment, Jory didn’t think about any potential danger to himself, he just acted on instinct, the teen told KTVQ television in Billings, Montana, which first 

"This current was pretty fast then, and he was moving pretty quickly," he told the outlet. "Only thing I could focus on was helping him get out of the water because I didn't want to see anyone go in front of me.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Let Me Have My Son Back'"}]

Jory's father has spent three decades on the Big Timber Volunteer Fire Department and immediately called 911.

Dispatch records show the call came in at 5:39 p.m. A deputy arrived just three minutes later and reported everyone was already out of the water. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Watching the rescue unfold wasn't easy for the elder Thomas. "}]

He knows that stretch of river, and that it becomes more dangerous just downstream, where swift current, deep holes and logjams create deadly hazards.

"My biggest concern was to let me have my son back," he said before taking a long pause, reflecting on the potential for Jory to also get caught up in the current.

"He understands water, but I don't think he understands what could happen,” Jase said. "I mean, he does, but he had one thing in mind, which is great, and he got it done." 

Jase believes the man his son rescued likely wouldn't have survived much longer.

[{"type":"text","text":"Sheriff Ronneberg agrees."}]

"I'm not sure how close the individual was to being 'lost,' but in my experience such things happen faster than you might guess they can," he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'He Loves Roping' "}]

Although the rescue looked almost unbelievable, it wasn't blind luck. Jory has spent the past year immersing himself in roping.

He practices on roping dummies in his spare time and started roping calves from horseback during local brandings, his father said.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"He's always had a rope,\" Jase said. \"He loves roping.\" "}]

Outside of ranch work, he's an avid hunter and is spending this week showing a steer and a pig at the county fair. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'That's Just Who He Is'"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"To his family, the rescue wasn't entirely surprising."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Jase said his son has always been the first person to help someone else."}]

"We'll be in town at the grocery store, and you'll see an elderly person," he said. "They can't pack the groceries, and he never says a word. He goes over and gets their groceries and packs them out. That's just who he is." 

Ronneberg said the rescue is a reminder that courage often appears in ordinary moments.

"Jory saw another in trouble and acted, not for himself but for another," Ronneberg said. "He didn't pull out a phone, but a lariat. He didn't watch what was happening but intervened."

"Jory is a lesson for all of us in this day and age and showed us what is courageous and right.”

Montana lasso teen 7 21 26

<title>14-Year-Old Ranch Kid Ropes Drowning Man On Yellowstone River, Saves Life | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 14-year-old ranch kid from Big Timber, Montana, had a rope in his hand when cries for help erupted from the Yellowstone River. He sprinted into the water, threw one loop and caught a struggling man around the arm and neck, pulling him safely to shore.

14-Year-Old Ranch Kid Ropes Drowning Man On Yellowstone River, Saves Life

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

Renée Jean

Wyoming Life

Entertainment

BUFFALO — When summer hits this small mountain town, a full-to-bursting Occidental Saloon isn’t an uncommon sight during Buffalo's annual Longmire Days, which celebrates the “Longmire” books and TV series created by local author Craig Johnson.

The saloon is the nerve center of the Western downtown, a nexus of historical buildings that have changed little since the late 1800s. 

Bullet holes still pock the walls of the saloon and the hotel is so full of artifacts it has museum status, even as it accepts guests for the night — just as it did when Butch Cassidy was still stomping around Wyoming, racing horses and then robbing trains and banks.

The Occidental’s historical cachet is a draw every summer, pulling in tourists and creating something of a scene, particularly on Thursday nights when the hotel’s co-owner, Dave Stewart, and some of his fellow musicians pull out their guitars for a jam session that packs the house and sells out the hotel.

But Saturday night, the overflowing crowdedness of it all had a sharper edge. 

People streaming out of the saloon were more than equally replaced by the people who were streaming in — and doing a double take once they made it past the doorway to the middle of the bar. 

There, casually enjoying cocktails and conversation as if he were not famous at all, was Robert Taylor, the actor who played Sheriff Walt Longmire for six seasons of the popular television hit “Longmire” series. 

Taylor held court at the end of the bar, chattering casually with a group that included “Longmire” author Craig Johnson’s agent Gail Hochman. 

He seemed completely unaware of the hubbub around him, even though he was definitely at its center.

People wearing King Ropes ball caps and Longmire T-shirts pretended not to stare, even as they were surreptitiously taking short videos of the star in action. 

Others, a little bolder, simply stopped to chat with Taylor and took the opportunity to ask for a selfie or an autograph. 

Taylor would eventually tire of this endless stream of people wanting a moment of his time — but it took hours. 

In the meantime, he never uttered an impatient word to the adoring fans jockeying for a slice of his time and attention.

He was in his element here — the fictional Absaroka County sheriff come to life once again. The fans of the show, who had traveled from coast to coast and all places in between, absolutely loved it.

What’s more remarkable is how this scene has repeated itself for the last 15 years running.

Sheriff Walt Longmire continues to solve Western mysteries in Johnson’s long-running series of novels, which are perennially New York Times Best-Sellers. His latest, 

In it, the sheriff has to solve the murder of a guy everyone hated.

While the books are going strong, it’s been nine years since the last new “Longmire" episode aired on television, yet fans are still coming to Longmire Days and clamoring to meet Taylor.

For his part, Taylor is here every year, without fail. 

that would conflict with the timing of Longmire Days, when Buffalo briefly becomes the fictional town of Durant, county seat of Longmire’s Absaroka County, and the town swells to roughly twice its normal size.

“I love coming to Wyoming,” Taylor told Cowboy State Daily. “I love seeing my friends. I love seeing Craig. (Longmire) was a wonderful part of my life, and I’m just never going to let it go.”

Intimate Moments, Not Just Autograph Lines

For many of the people who crammed into Buffalo over the weekend, it is the unscripted bar scene that defines the allure of Longmire Days more than any other.

It’s more intimate than an autograph line and  more surprising than scheduled Q&A or insider panel, particularly to those newer to Longmire Days.

“I mean, you couldn’t go anywhere else and get that kind of access to such people,” Betty Abbott told Cowboy State Daily. “That’s what’s cool.”

Her husband, Ken, was equally impressed with Craig Johnson’s presence during Longmire Days.

“I’ve never seen anybody so tireless in my life, staying a whole week here,” he said. “We don’t see the private side, but the guys just like — does he sleep? he’s always going. It’s just fascinating to see.”

Suzanne Peters, a first-time Longmire Days visitor from North Carolina, meanwhile, was absolutely shocked when she bumped into Taylor right off the bat, the first morning of the event. 

“We’re staying at the Occidental,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “We come down into the saloon every day, and there’s Rob sitting there having breakfast with the owner Dave Stewart.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Peters didn’t rush the star."}]

“We tried to be respectful,” she said. “You know, if he engaged, we were going to engage.”

Not only was Taylor open to talking with Peters, but he was asking her questions about her Longmire journeys and who she’d come to the event with.

“He was really excited when he found out my sister-in-law was a teacher,” Peters said. “I’ve been sending my sister all these really cool pictures, because Rob is really generous with the pictures. And so is Craig.”

During the autograph session, Taylor remembered Peters’ sister-in-law, and wrote a particularly nice message in her book about the importance of teachers in society.

“So I got to come out and meet my favorite author, and I got to talk to Rob Taylor, who I think is a really cool actor and everything,” Peters said with a beaming smile. “He’s been everything I expected. A very nice guy.”

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

Walk down Main Street during Longmire Days and it’s hard to tell where the Craig Johnson stories end and Buffalo begins. 

And Johnson wouldn’t have it any other way.

“So much of the charm of Longmire Days resides right here in Buffalo,” Johnson told Cowboy State Daily. “People wander around and feel like they’re walking around in Absaroka County. They think they’re in Durant, and they expect Walt Longmire to come walking down the sidewalk and see them at any time. And I don’t blame them because he’s actually out there walking around.”

Johnson has been upfront that he’s weaving his story around a real-life place, a place his readers can visit. The name of the county and the town might be fictional, but street names are the same, as are trail numbers. 

That makes it easy for tourism officials to direct visitors to all the sights within the Longmire universe.

“It’s kind of ready-made to be a tourism asset for the state,” Johnson said. “And I’m always proud of that because Wyoming is, I mean 22 novels and three novellas and a collection of short stories later, I still love the place, and I’m not going anywhere.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Not Just A Vacation"}]

For many Longmire fans, that “tourism asset” has become something like a pilgrimage.

Peters, for example, traveled all the way from North Carolina for the event. She bought her all-access ticket the minute dates were announced and booked a room at the Occidental right away. 

Longtime fans Terri Behm and Ken Dambrosio, meanwhile, came all the way from New Hampshire for the occasion. When they couldn’t find a room in Buffalo, they booked in nearby Sheridan instead, driving down each day.

“The magic of Longmire is a little difficult to articulate,” Dambrosio said. “Longmire itself is such a compelling show, and the characters were so rich. I really enjoyed it. So I was on the list of people who were hoping it would be revived when it initially got the boot. And then it did and we were all excited and just loved it.”

When Dambrosio heard about Longmire Days for the first time, he knew it was something he wanted to come and see.

“We’re from New Hampshire, so it isn’t next door,” he said with a chuckle. “So we were looking for a reason to come out.”

There have been false starts a few times, including a wedding. This time they decided to “just do it.”

The extra attention from the celebrities, who included A. Martinez (Jacob Nighthorse), Louanne Stephens (Ruby), as well as Taylor, has made the trip feel worthwhile.

“They’ve done a lovely job, kind of having opportunities to get to know the characters, and hear about why it was special for them,” Behm said. “And I feel like the people who choose to come to a fan event like this, they’re going to be the ones who like fans and interact with them well. So it’s been nice to see that.”

Ask enough people why they’re so attached to a sheriff from a fictional Wyoming county, and sooner or later the conversation slips from television and celebrities into something akin to longing for a world that still make sense, where things work they way they should.

“I’m not attracted to bad people doing bad things,” Behm said. “I can take a flawed hero who sometimes makes a poor choice … but at their core, they’re trying to do right.”

That’s harder to write, Behm added. But it’s far more satisfying in the end.

“These are layered characters,” she said. “But to me, they’re so much more compelling than, like Yellowstone, where they’re all kind of at their core not great.”

That flawed human who is still good-to-the-core is part of the attraction for Peters as well.

“If you wrecked your car on a dark road somewhere, you’d be so relieved if Walt pulled up,” she said. “He’s the kind of guy you’d want to come help your kids if something went wrong.”

In a world where the real-life headlines often feel upside-down, Longmire is offering a universe where decency, fairness and hard work still count. Where justice might be messy, but is never meaningless. 

That’s what Louanne Stephens, who plays Ruby likes about “Longmire,” her self. 

“It’s the same old thing I’ve always said,” she said. “Except for Nighthorse, everybody in this show is trying to be good, trying to do their best and falling short. And that’s unique now, too, because all the big shows, everybody’s bad.”

The shows basically decent values are part of what Behm believes makes the event feel like such a second home — even for first-time visitors like herself.

“You feel like those who are drawn to this, you’re probably going to get along with,” she said. “It’s a sense of community.”

That sense of community extends far beyond Buffalo. It’s wrapped around the lives of everyone who has ever been part of producing the television show, “Longmire.” 

That brings some unusual guests to the event every year, guests who are completely unexpected, and fun.

Enter Rosie Palmer, stage left. She was the stand-in for Katee Sackhoff, a role that ultimately earned Palmer her first speaking line. 

“I’m interviewing a cop who is in plainclothes about a murder that happened that morning,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “It was hair, makeup, everything. And my name’s in the credit. Season six, episode eight, about 20 minutes in.”

It was a story of persistence, more than anything else — a decade of showing up on time, being willing to do the work, and becoming the kind of casting extra directors knew they could rely upon. 

Palmer has been in more than 50 television and film scenes, including “Breaking Bad.” But her favorite of them all has always been Longmire.

“I’ve wanted to come here for years,” Palmer said. “I’ve heard about it, seen it on Facebook. Buffalo is a trip. This is an amazing town, amazing people. All these people who are joined here together that love Longmire — it’s amazing.”

Palmer loved Longmire so much, she arranged her entire year around being in that particular show. Even though she didn’t know if there would be another episode, still she kept that timeframe open every year so she could take a role. 

“Every script, the stories that are in there, the plots — they’re amazing,” she said. “I learned so much … I was so blessed to be there to stand in, and be able to do this job. I loved every minute. Every minute.”

Extras and stand-ins had to abide by very strict rules, including that they would not speak to any of the actors, unless those actors talked to them first.

Palmer also kept a different pair of shoes for every stand-in role, shoes that helped make her the right height for each part. 

“This is a person who loves Longmire with all their heart,” she said. “Where I work, I serve food, Cinnamon, Sugar and Spice. And I wear a Longmire rubber band up here, and I wear my pin.”

She pointed to a Longmire pin on her shirt, which looks a little like a Sheriff’s badge. 

“I always wear my pin to work,” she said with a beaming smile. 

It’s her way of keeping Longmire alive, and sharing it with others who may not have discovered it yet.

“I’ve never seen a community like this around a show,” she said. “Everybody loves it. They are passionate. They know the shows, the episodes.”

Taylor, she added, was the very heart of the show when it was filming, and has continued to be so for all the Longmire fans.

“He had so much love and compassion for all of us,” she said. “He was beloved by everyone.”

In a weekend full of sheriffs, deputies, and bestselling authors, Palmer stood out, a symbol of the heart that has built a show that draws people in from thousands of miles away and keeps them coming back to Buffalo for 14 years now. 

The notoriety no longer belongs only to “Longmire.” It belongs to the fans, who are determined to keep the beating heart of this cult classic Western mystery series alive.

Longmire Days 20260719 140106 7 20 26

<title>Fans Still Pack Buffalo For Longmire Days, Even 9 Years After Last TV Episode | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Fans still pack Buffalo for Longmire Days even nine years after the last “Longmire” TV episode aired. Author Craig Johnson created Sheriff Walt Longmire, and said fans "expect Walt Longmire to come walking down the sidewalk and see them at any time."

Fans Still Pack Buffalo For Longmire Days, Even 9 Years After Last TV Episode

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

Andrew Rossi

Two tourists were seen getting dangerously and illegally close to Grand Prismatic Spring on Sunday in Yellowstone National Park, enraging hundreds of spectators and millions of internet onlookers.

Tanya Saueressig of Livingston, Montana, was visiting Yellowstone with a friend when she witnessed the incident. She was standing on the Grand Prismatic boardwalk around 7 p.m. during what was otherwise a pleasant evening.

“It was a really nice crowd,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “People on the boardwalk were being lovely, giving each other space, and being quiet. It was a really nice experience.”

Saueressig was getting her final look of the evening when she saw something moving across the expansive microbial mats toward Grand Prismatic.

“I stopped in my tracks and was like, ‘Is that people? That can't be people. Nobody's that dumb,’” she said. 

[{"type":"text","text":"After all, temperatures in the spring run from 145 - 188 degrees. Deadly."}]

But, it was people. Two women, who appeared to be approaching the massive hot spring from the Fairy Falls Trail, which runs along the western edge of Grand Prismatic.

Saueressig's lovely evening quickly soured, as she was immediately overwhelmed by a wave of different emotions.

“I started getting scared because I thought they were going to fall in and get really, really hurt,” she said. “I worried people at the overlook were going to watch someone die that day. They were out there where nobody could help them.”

Concern quickly turned to anger. As she watched the women nonchalantly walk along the edge of Grand Prismatic, within 50 feet of its scalding-hot water, she got “so furious that I literally had tears in my eyes.”

“You could tell they were just strolling along, taking their selfies, without a care in the world,” she said. “They were totally oblivious to what was right under their feet. You're causing so much damage with every step you take, and you don't care.”

Someone else filmed the dark-haired duo 

. That video has been viewed millions of times in less than 24 hours. 

There’s no word on whether the individuals in the videos were identified or reported to Yellowstone's law enforcement rangers.

“I was so angry,” Saueressig said. “It was so mind-boggling to me that they would be out there in the first place.”

Two tourists got dangerously and illegally close to Grand Prismatic Spring on Sunday in Yellowstone. Montana resident Tanya Saueressig, who filmed them taking selfies right next to the scalding water, said she "was so furious" she had tears in her eyes.

Daily Darwin: Friday, March 7, 2025

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