Mischievous Rancher Behind Those Mysterious Lights In Rural Hot Springs County

Electrician Brennen Basse was investigating a power outage when he was startled to see a mysterious light on the horizon in a rural spot of Hot Springs County, Wyoming.

The area was in a blackout and the light shone brightly against the hill. It slowly changed from red to blue and Basse was left wondering what the heck he had just seen.

“I knew there weren’t any homes there,” he said. “So, I wasn’t sure what was going on.”

Others have seen the lights, too, so Basse knew he wasn’t crazy. Some had surmised it was a UFO landing spot and others guessed it was tied to the oil field even though it was miles from any pump jack.

There are actually four of the lights flashing from high vantage points on different hills.

Three are in the Owl Creeks and a fourth is outside of Worland. They are bright pinpoints of changing colors and can be seen from an estimated four miles away, including from the highway where startled motorists wondered who the cops were pulling over on a remote hill 

Local rancher Colter McCumber told Cowboy State Daily that he is questioned constantly about the lights which border his property. He described them as changing globe lights which he can see clearly from down in the valley and from his own home.  

“People ask me, what the heck is that and why?” he said. “They notice them from the Lucerne side, and then they notice them from the Highway 120 side.”

The Man Behind The Lights

Each one had been installed by McCumber’s neighbor, a local rancher with a quirky sense of humor. Eddie Shumway, the owner of the mysterious lights, said they just make him happy.

“I got this one and that one,” Shumway said, pointing to two of his light structures he had erected on his ranch off of Highway 120. “And I got one on the big ridge hill up on Mud Creek. And then I got one down at Tie Down up by Worland.” 

In 2021, Shumway had bought four solar lights from Amazon and installed them on his properties.  They were outdoor lights built to light up driveways and he bought them on a whim.  

“They are still working,” he said, smiling. “When you go by my place at night you see red, blue and green lights up in the hills.”

McCumber finds the lights amusing as well though he admits he never knows what to say when people ask about them.

“I'm at a loss for answers,” McCumber said. “I try to come up with something new. He’s waiting for the UFOs to show up or something like that.”

Shumway’s family has been in the Owl Creeks since the late 1800s. Both sets of his grandparents had ranched along the creek which meanders through their ranch and farmland.

Shumway, 70, was raised on the family homestead and has lived in the family home most of his life. It was while in between chores that he built look out towers where he could install the solar lights.

He admits that the neighbors are always wondering what he is doing now and said that it is just about having fun. He also likes how the solar lights are low maintenance and operate without batteries.

“I just like them,” he said. “I have them all over at home too.”

His original intent with the lights was not to light up the countryside but to add light to his lookout towers.

Placing The Lookout Towers

His small solar lights, measuring a mere 10 inches, are not simply placed on a pole in the middle of sagebrush. Shumway had built roads and lookout towers up into the hills on his property.

Old poles that had been salvaged by the resourceful rancher were used to build the structures, which McCumber’s kids are convinced are the best forts ever. Shumway said that the leftover poles came in very handy.

“These used to be telephone poles that used to go up the valley,” he said. “When they took them all down, we inherited them.”

He was determined to make sure his lookouts were sturdy and could withstand the elements.

“It’s quite the elaborate setup actually,” he said. “I went up there with a bobcat and set the telephone poles.”

He dug the holes as deep as the bit would go down and that was where each pole would go. It was difficult to get his posts set because of all the rock he kept encountering and he had four attempts that didn’t work.

His lookout towers are still a work in progress. He dreams of putting a roof over it so that he can sit up there with his solar light and enjoy the view.

“I got another lookout tower over on the other side,” he said, pointing across his property. “I can look back and forth. They're both about the same height.”

In the distance, the sand cranes can be heard calling to each other. Ducks swim peacefully in the reservoir he built out of an old gravel pit and his cattle graze in the distant fields.

Preserving The History

As Shumway surveys the property, he points out the old wagon road that runs through the red dirt and the house that is at least 120 years old. He remembers the Duncan family that used to live down there and the stories his mom told him from when she was a little girl. She had grown up as a neighbor to the previous owners. 

As he explores this particular property that has been in his family for nearly 50 years, he continues to discover puzzling clues to the people who lived there before. He has found three dugouts lined with red rock that causes him wonder if the mountain men had built them as caches.

As his lights shine from the hills above, Shumway is creating his own legend as people wonder what Eddie is up to now.

Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.