You Still Here

You ever notice how many really stupid people you run into every single day?

You still here 6 22 25

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

<title>You Still Here? Sunday, June 22, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

You Still Here? Sunday, June 22, 2025

 You ever notice how many really stupid people you run into every single day?

Coy Knobel

Don Day Weather

Sunny, breezy, smoky in much of Wyoming on Monday. Fire danger in some areas. Mostly clear overnight. Cooler with highs from the low 70s to mid 90s. Lows from the mid 30s to mid 50s.

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

Widespread smoke, sunny and breezy today with a high near 85 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 49 and wind gusts as high as 33 mph.

Widespread smoke mainly before 11 a.m., sunny and breezy today with a high near 84 and wind gusts as high as 29 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 50 and wind gusts as high as 29 mph.

  Red flag fire warning until 9 p.m. tonight. Areas of smoke, sunny and breezy today with a high near 86 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 44 and wind gusts as high as 34 mph.

  Red flag fire warning until 9 p.m. tonight. Patchy smoke, sunny today with a high near 84 and wind from 11-16 mph. Mostly clear overnight with patchy smoke before 9 p.m. and a low near 44.

  Red flag fire warning until 9 p.m. tonight. Areas of smoke, sunny and breezy today with a high near 90 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 50 and wind gusts as high as 29 mph.

 Red flag fire warning until 9 p.m. tonight. Areas of smoke, sunny and breezy today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 44 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph.

 Red flag fire warning until 9 p.m. tonight. Widespread smoke mainly before 7 a.m., sunny and breezy today with a high near 78 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 39 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

 Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 80 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 41.

  Red flag fire warning until 9 p.m. tonight. Widespread smoke mainly before 7 a.m., sunny and breezy today with a high near 80 and wind gusts as high as 28 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 37 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph.

 Areas of smoke, sunny and breezy today with a high near 77 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 41 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph.

  Widespread smoke mainly after 4 p.m., sunny today with a high near 79 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 39.

Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park

:  Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 70 and mostly clear overnight a low near 35.

Widespread smoke mainly after 1 p.m., sunny and breezy today with a high near 80 and wind gusts as high as 29 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 49 and wind gusts as high as 28 mph.

:  Widespread smoke, sunny and windy today with a high near 73 and wind gusts as high as 43 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 46 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

  Widespread smoke mainly before 3 p.m., sunny and windy today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 37 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 48 and wind gusts as high as 37 mph.

   Widespread smoke mainly before 4 p.m., sunny and windy today with a high near 73 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 48 and wind gusts as high as 34 mph.

  Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 77 and wind from 17-23 mph. Mostly clear overnight with patchy smoke and a low near 44.

:   Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 72 and wind from 21-24 mph. Mostly clear overnight with patchy smoke, a low near 44 and wind from 12-17 mph.

Areas of smoke, mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 78 and wind gusts as high as 33 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 44 and wind gusts as high as 32 mph.

   Red flag fire warning from 11 a.m. today until 8 p.m. tonight. Areas of smoke, mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 84 and wind gusts as high as 32 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a slight chance of rain after midnight, areas of smoke before 9 p.m., a low near 51 and wind gusts as high as 32 mph.

:  Areas of smoke, mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 81 and wind gusts as high as 32 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 44 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

  Red flag fire warning from 11 a.m. today until 9 p.m. tonight. Patchy smoke, mostly sunny and hot today with a high near 95 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Increasing clouds and breezy overnight with areas of smoke, a low near 57 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

  Red flag fire warning from 11 a.m. today until 9 p.m. tonight. Patchy smoke, mostly sunny, breezy and hot today with a high near 91 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Increasing clouds and breezy overnight with areas of smoke, a low near 56 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

  Widespread smoke mainly before 1 p.m., sunny and breezy today with a high near 79 and wind gusts as high as 32 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 48 and wind gusts as high as 32 mph.

   Red flag fire warning from 11 a.m. today until 9 p.m. tonight. Patchy smoke, slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny and hot today with a high near 93 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Increasing clouds and breezy overnight with patchy smoke, a low near 52 and wind gusts as high as 35 mph.

  Patchy smoke, slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 89 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with patchy smoke, a low near 47 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

  Red flag fire warning from 11 a.m. today until 9 p.m. tonight. Patchy smoke, increasing clouds, breezy and hot today with a high near 97 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Increasing clouds and breezy overnight with patchy smoke, a low near 54 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

   Red flag fire warning until 9 p.m. tonight. Patchy smoke, breezy, gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 88 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with patchy smoke, a low near 49 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

   Red flag fire warning until 9 p.m. tonight. Patchy smoke after 1 p.m., mostly sunny, breezy and hot today with a high near 90 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with patchy smoke, a low near 46 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

   Red flag fire warning until 9 p.m. tonight. Patchy smoke after 11 a.m., mostly sunny and hot today with a high near 92 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Mostly clear overnight with patchy smoke, a low near 46 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

Daycap no play 8 3 26

<title>Don Day's Wyoming Weather Forecast: Monday, August 3, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Don Day's Wyoming Weather Forecast: Monday, August 3, 2026

Kerry Drake

Wyoming Life

When Manus Hand was 9 years old in 1973, he noticed that many places — towns, cities, counties and townships — around the country shared the name of his home state, and he wondered where the word originated. 

His father, James, a Laramie attorney, suggested he write to the postmasters in every "Wyoming" he’d located, and ask them what they thought.

It was a win-win for the youngster, his dad explained. He’d get the answers he wanted and also some neat postmarks for his stamp collection.

As it turned out, Manus' love of stamp collecting, American history and atlas reading would converge three years later for America's bicentennial to lead him on a nationide odyssey with his parents and five sisters that ultimately took him to the White House.

Manus, to his surprise, received friendly replies from everyone he wrote, plus information about the other Wyomings. There was no consensus, though, about the origin of the word.

As the nation’s 200th birthday drew closer, his dad had an idea to pitch to Wyoming’s Bicentennial Commission in Cheyenne.

The father-and-son team told the group that as a goodwill gesture the Equality State could make plaques that would convey Wyoming state citizenship to the residents of every other Wyoming. 

And they’d be hand-delivered by Manus, whose first name actually is Latin for "hand" -- effectively making him Hand Hand. Manus describes it as an example of his father's finely honed sense of humor.

The Bicentennial Commission agreed to provide a grant of $1,200, if Manus could raise a matching amount for the trip. The elder Hand solved that problem, too.

[{"type":"text","text":"Herschler Kicked In $1,200"}]

“Dad just dragged me over to the other wing of the Capitol, straight to the governor’s office, and I did my presentation again,” Manus, now 62 and a professonal web designer in Parker, Colorado, told Cowboy State Daily. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Gov. Ed Herschler provided the matching $1,200 on the spot."}]

Word spread quickly about what was soon dubbed “The Wyoming Trip” as Manus gave newspapers in the state details about the project. He was at a friend’s house in Laramie when he saw Walter Cronkite talk about the upcoming event on the “CBS Evening News.”

Like most people, Hand remembered, America’s most trusted newsman mispronounced his name (it’s MAWN-us). Still, any publicity was good publicity.

On June 11, 1972, the Hand family packed into its station wagon with the appropriate “5-WYOS” license plate and headed for their first official stop in Wyoming, Minnesota. With two adults, six kids, luggage and boxes of plaques and other gifts to give to more than two dozen Wyomings, Manus said, “We were pretty danged packed.”

“My mother hated every minute of it,” he added, though she didn’t confess that until recently. Manus, a parent and grandparent now, understands: “Imagine what it’s like to have all six of your kids yelling and screaming.”

His parents wanted to keep a strict schedule, but their hopes were quickly dashed. If there’s a common thread to the 25-page journal about the trip compiled for the commission by Manus and his folks, it’s that something always made them late on every leg of the journey, especially car troubles and illnesses.

This wouldn’t have been much of a problem if Manus’ initial vision had come to fruition.

“I had no clue what we were in for, honest to God,” Manus said. “I just thought we’d say ‘hi' to the postmaster, hand them the plaque, and off we’d go to the next town.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Royal Treatment"}]

It didn’t happen that way. A call ahead of their Minnesota destination revealed there was already a TV news crew ready to interview Manus. When the car was near the city limits, a police escort directed them to a park where there was plenty of food to eat and a stage with singers and city officials.

This royal treatment continued when Manus was summoned to the stage and given a certificate signed by the governor of Minnesota, making him an honorary Minnesotan. 

Then he was presented the key to the city by the mayor, who noted that Wyoming, Minnesota, had a big boating community where ships were manufactured. He gave Manus a 4-foot canoe paddle that is now on display at the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming, along with the nonedible gifts the family received.

The scene was repeated in nearly every place on their itinerary. Their station wagon remained full, its load lightened each ceremony only to be replaced by scrapbooks, flags, chocolates, cheese, and proclamations naming it “Manus Hand Day.”

[{"type":"text","text":"“That was a total shock to me,” Manus said."}]

He recalled wearing his “little boy, lime green leisure suit” to every event. “I thought I looked pretty sharp,” he added, chuckling.

Manus said in addition to the honorary Wyoming citizenships, one of his important missions was to tell people about his state. He gave many press interviews, did question-and-answer sessions with audiences, and met with countless local officials.

As he traveled to Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine and Massachusetts, there were other firsts. Included was his initial trip to Canada, where the family visited Wyoming, Ontario.

It was the first time he saw the Atlantic Ocean. The first time he ever heard a tornado siren was in Wyoming, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids with 70,000 people — more than any city in his state. Fortunately, the twisterthat landed that day only took out a few trees.

[{"type":"text","text":"Running On Empty In Times Square"}]

Then came New York City, where they became stuck in a huge Times Square traffic jam.

“We were just amazed to see a fire truck get on the sidewalk with sirens blazing because no one could get out of its way,” Manus said.

[{"type":"text","text":"That happened, he added, about the time their car ran out of gas."}]

“All of the drivers around us were really pissed when they realized our car wasn’t going to be moving at all, Manus said.

He and his father jumped out of the car with a 5-gallon gas can, looking for  a station. 

“Nowadays that’s just crazy,” Manus said. “We left my mom and all these girls in the middle of New York City while we males took off.”

Once mobile again, Manus discovered they were only a few blocks from “the only store on the planet” devoted to selling “Star Trek” merchandise. 

“It was a little hole-in-the-wall place, so it didn’t match my expectations,” he recalled. “But I was happy, I found a few things to add to my collection.”

Not every excursion was to see a Wyoming municipality or county. One stop was at Bath, Maine, where the “Wyoming” — the largest wooden schooner ever built — was constructed.

There was definitely a connection between the ship and the state of Wyoming. Gov. Joseph Carey was a major shareholder in the Percy and Smith shipbuilding company. The ship sank off Boston in the early 1900s, and the only thing that floated ashore was its “WYOMING” wooden nameplate.

[{"type":"text","text":"Whirlwind D.C. Tour"}]

The Hands packed a week’s worth of sightseeing in Washington, D.C., into a single day, thanks to a schedule arranged by Wyoming U.S. Sens. Cliff Hanson and Gale McGee. It started with a tour of the Capitol, where they watched the Senate in session.

Then it was on to the Library of Congress, where he and his father had a quest, according to his journal: “We talked our special guide into showing us how to find the January 1865 bill which first proposed the name of Wyoming for the territory which is now our state. Of all the books in that great library, the one we needed was mysteriously missing!”

At the then-new FBI Center, they had a long tour that ended with an agent giving what Manus described as an impressive shooting demonstration. Lunch was in the Capitol cafeteria, followed by a ride on the congressional tram through a tunnel, and a chance meeting where he posed for a photo with former Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

At the White House, the family had a V.I.P. guide who showed them the Rose Garden, the Red Room, the Crystal Room and the Gold Room before taking the group to the office of White House Chief of Staff Dick Cheney of Wyoming.

From Manus’ 50-year-old report: “Mr. Cheney is a very personable fellow (as all Wyomingites) and we enjoyed meeting him.” His mother knew the future vice president from when they both went to Natrona County High School in Casper.

“They had a class together, but she didn’t travel in the same circles that he did,” Manus said. “But she did have a double date once with Cheney and his future wife, Lynne.”

President Gerald Ford was busy handling an international crisis over the murder of an American ambassador in the Near East. But walking by the Oval Office, Manus said he caught a glimpse of the president at his desk reading a newspaper.

The rest of the day was spent visiting the Washington Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial and the Smithsonian.

[{"type":"text","text":"Back in Laramie"}]

Manus and his family were back in Laramie just in time for the Bicentennial.

“The strange thing is that the only memory I have of the actual day of July 4 is sitting in the front room of our Laramie home watching the much-hyped parade of wooden sailing ships in New York Harbor,” he said. “I’m sure that Laramie held a fireworks display and perhaps more, but I sadly don’t remember.”

Manus graduated from the University of Wyoming and became an internet pioneer and professional web designer. He created the first internet webzine, “The Diplomatic Pouch,” which is still devoted to his favorite hobby, playing Diplomacy, a strategic board game that requires players to negotiate and form and betray alliances with other players.

Manus proudly says he finished fifth in the Diplomacy world championship and was a member of the championship team.

His father created a special room in the basement, where all of the artifacts from “The Wyoming Trip” were displayed. When Manus’ parents decided to downsize and sell their house, they donated all of the room’s contents to the American Heritage Center.

“I’m really glad they did, and that it could be used for an exhibit that helps commemorate America’s 250th,” said Manus, who added that the honorary state citizenship he helped share with everyone he met is still valid, and when the State of Wyoming promised its “eternal friendship,” that's exactly what it meant.

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

Manus Hand The Hand family in the West Wing with then White House chief of staff Dick Cheney 1976 8 2 26

<title>In 1976, Laramie Boy's Bicentennial Quest Took Him All Over North America & White House | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Fifty years ago, it was all about the Bicentennial and Laramie's Manus Hand embarked on a project that took him to dozens of towns, cities and counties named Wyoming. Wyoming's Dick Cheney was President Ford's chief of staff and hosted the 12-year-old and his family.

In 1976, Laramie Boy's Bicentennial Quest Took Him All Over North America & White House

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

Renée Jean

Business & Tourism

Trent Tope’s historic general store in tiny Aladdin is particularly counting on Sturgis Rally goers this year. That’s because tourists aren’t spending money like they once did.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, there’s tourists here,” the owner of Aladdin’s only store told Cowboy State Daily. “But they’re just not spending money like normal because they’re putting it all in their gas tanks.”

Fortunately for Tope, the cavalry is coming. 

It’s not a cavalry that rides a horse — though it has plenty of horsepower. It’s a cavalry that rides thousands of motorcycles through Wyoming every year, seeking adventures from Cody in the west to Aladdin in the northeast and from Cheyenne in the southeast. 

All along these adventures, Rally goers will gas up, buy burgers and beer, and fill hotels, motels and campgrounds. It’s a money trail that helps keep many businesses in small and large communities alive. 

“Honestly, if it weren’t for the Rally, (the Aladdin General Store) probably wouldn’t even be economically viable,” Tope said. “So we’re really looking forward to it.”

Aladdin looks to capture up to 60% of its annual revenue during August, all thanks to the many Rally goers who stop in for drinks and a plate of barbecue. 

There will be live music every day of the Rally as well as barbecue plates and an outdoor swimming pool bar. 

Jordan Yates, who co-owns the Aladdin store with Tope, dreams up interesting cocktails for the store’s tiny bar. She has 10 to 12 friends who will come help serve the extra-large crowds, as well as offer their own creative shots. 

“We’re already starting to pick up quite a bit,” Yates said. “I’m hoping we have the calendars by Rally to share, but we’re waiting on the printer.”

Aladdin’s calendar girls, who posed for the annual fundraiser that supports nonprofit causes such as the volunteer fire department and FFA, will be offering a bike wash, too. 

Even if the calendars are not ready, Yates said most of the calendar girls will still have posters to sign, and they will be helping with the bike wash.

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

Aladdin is just one of the tiny towns on the Devils Tower Loop, a route many Sturgis Rally goers will ride during their visit. 

The loop runs through Beulah, Sundance, Carlile Junction, Devils Tower, Hulett, Alva, and Aladdin on the Wyoming side. It takes in Whitewood, Spearfish, Belle Fourche, St. Onge and Sturgis in South Dakota. 

Many of the towns along the loop — or even near the loop, like Moorcroft — stage their own events during the Sturgis Rally to draw riders.

Among the best-known of these side events is Hulett’s Ham and Jam, held on Wyoming Wednesday of Sturgis Week, which is Aug. 12 this year. Roughly 

 on one day for a free pork sandwich with classic picnic dishes like pork and beans and potato chips. 

The music and food are free — while supplies last — paid for by the town and sponsors as a thank you to the riding community. The main serving station is right next to Captain Ron’s Rodeo Bar on Main Street, where the idea was born almost 40 years ago. 

Sundance has also made its mark with the 

, where riders gather to shred their tires, producing thick clouds of black smoke, in a 3 p.m. street party that dovetails perfectly with the noon Ham 'N Jam. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"When The Region Goes Black"}]

Ham and Jam time is go-time for the region, Hulett’s Tom Coronato told Cowboy State Daily. He co-owns the Ponderosa Cafe and Bar with his brothers, Dean and Bob Coronato. The latter also owns 

“I think the entire Black Hills, if you actually talk to the liquor salesmen, your food salesmen, and all the purveyors, this is when the entire region goes into the black,” he said. “Most businesses ride the red for 10 months out of the year, but then like July and August put them into the black, until they go back into the red sometime around Christmas.”

It’s a nerve-wracking cycle for the business owners, Coronato said. And it’s one that requires some thought into what the visitors will actually buy. Expensive artifacts and curiosities, for example, not so much. But stickers and postcards with artwork on them are popular as mementoes.

Beyond the short-term lift to businesses though, there’s a longer-term impact that goes beyond how individual businesses do during the rally. The ripple effects start with sales and lodging tax revenues that support county services and spread out to the general impression the area makes, which ultimately attracts new residents.

“I’ve lost count of how many people have moved into the surrounding area,” Coronato said. "Crook County, Gillette, Spearfish — all the surrounding counties — because they’re Rally people who came through here and said, ‘You know what, when I want to move out of my home in Chicago or Denver I want a second home out here because the summers are just outstanding.'”

That’s helping build a larger community, with demographics that can better help support new businesses.

“They may be second homeowners, but they still pay taxes here,” Coronato said. “They still pay school tax. They’re still paying revenue into the communities. They’re putting insurance companies in business and the title companies — the ripple effects are way larger than ‘Hey, I’m able to sell more beer on Wednesday than anyone else.’”

It’s not just small communities that benefit, though. Larger communities such as Cheyenne and Cody also see substantial economic benefit from Rally goers.

Cody Yellowstone Director of Marketing Katrina Southern told Cowboy State Daily that Rally goers show up before and after the Sturgis Rally to check out the Beartooth Loop, which is on Harley-Davidson’s list of top-rated scenic rides. That loop includes Chief Joseph Highway and can easily include side trips into Yellowstone. 

“My husband rides as well, and I mean the twists and turns down Chief Joseph as well as the Beartooth are phenomenal for bike riding,” she said. “And people will also take the Chief Joseph route and loop around, go in through the northeast gate of Yellowstone National Park, and then come back around through the east gate.”

There’s also a scenic loop that goes around to Sheridan and the Bighorn Mountains, as well as loops that run down to Thermopolis and the Hot Springs.

That’s brought some Sturgis Rally goers back to Cody multiple years in a row for new adventures. The late-August riders help bridge the gap between the family-vacation crush of midsummer and Cody’s strong September shoulder season.

“We’ve been essentially a base camp for the Sturgis Rally for quite a few years now,” Southern said. “And everyone here loves having them come in. They’re always so friendly and they’re just looking for a new adventure.”

In Cheyenne, Sturgis brings between $3 to $5 million annually, Visit Cheyenne’s Jim Walter told Cowboy State Daily. While that represents a 1-2% slice of the capital city’s $485 million tourism economy, it’s still a hefty sum in real dollars.

Cheyenne is the “last big stop” for many of the Rally goers, Walter said. It’s where many of the riders stage for the last night in a real bed and the last big restaurant meal before arriving in Sturgis.  

“I know over the years the Plains Hotel has always had motorcycle parking specifically out front for people going to Sturgis,” Walter said. “I think there’s a few bars that do some things as well, like they’ll put out signs that say, ‘Welcome bikers.’”

Walter sees the Rally goers as an essential boost after Cheyenne Frontier Days, when many residents are feeling tapped out and less likely to eat out. 

“Having that Sturgis traffic come through sells that extra cheeseburger, that extra glass of beer, and fills that extra seat in the restaurant when everybody here in the community is all worn out and staying home for a couple of days,” Walter said. “These folks are coming through and doing that for us.”

On a map, the Sturgis Rally looks like a dot in South Dakota, but in Wyoming it’s a long and winding money trail that lifts towns from Cody to Hulett and Aladdin and from Cheyenne to Newcastle and beyond. 

For some places, the trail is just a handy, 1-2% bump, smoothing over a slow period when children head back to school and families aren’t likely to be vacationing. 

For other places, it’s become the difference between life and death for tiny town businesses. 

For them, it’s half a year’s income, crammed into a few loud and boisterous days. 

“There’s basically only four ways to get to Sturgis,” Coronato said. “Every community benefits along those highways for miles. It’s hundreds of miles of benefit.”

Ham and Jam 8 2 26

<title>Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Is Make-Or-Break For Businesses In Small Wyoming Towns | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A stream of bikers on their way to and from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally create the biggest business week of the year for small northeast Wyoming towns. Bikers stay at motels, pack bars, eat and gas up — helping some businesses thrive, and others survive.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Is Make-Or-Break For Businesses In Small Wyoming Towns

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

Andrew Rossi

Around Wyoming

 petroglyph sites in North America is hidden away in a secret spot near Newcastle, Wyoming. The petroglyphs of Whoopup Canyon are among the oldest and most "realistic" known to exist.

Hundreds of images are carved into the sandstone walls across 150 known panels. They depict people, animals and even the technology used by some of the earliest Indigenous people in North America.

A lucky group of people got to visit this protected site July 25 as part of a tour coordinated by the Wyoming Historical Society and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Newcastle office.

The tour was led by Lucas Keeler, a BLM petroleum engineering technician who’s also one of the foremost authorities on Whoopup Canyon.

“It’s one of the largest and oldest petroglyph sites in North America, and it’s a love and passion of mine,” he told Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"It’s Not Art"}]

At many petroglyph sites, it’s hard for most people to recognize what’s being depicted. Images are deliberately abstract or artistic, which some believe is attached to the spiritual significance of the people who made them.

At Whoopup Canyon, little is left to the imagination. The images, free of artistic embellishments, are easy to identify and interpret as what they are.

Ralph I. Olinger, a businessman, amateur archaeologist, and Wyoming House representative from Lusk, noted as much during the first scholarly assessment of the petroglyphs with University of Denver anthropology professor Etienne B. Renaud in the 1930s.

“The deer and elk are mostly pictured, but there are mountain goats, antelope, bison, and a few other animals,” he wrote. “There seems to be none of horses.”

Keeler noted that the realism of the petroglyphs is one of many unique attributes of Whoopup Canyon. That’s also why he emphasized that the images “are not art.”

“It wasn’t art to the people that created them,” he said. “It is a historical record with cultural and spiritual significance. A sacred link to the land. There’s nothing wrong with referring to petroglyphs as ‘rock art,’ but it’s deeper than that.”

That was the background Keeler provided to the tour group before they departed from Newcastle to reach the sandstone canyon. They hiked a mile through chest-high grass, under the shade of ancient cottonwoods, before stopping at the end of the canyon to get a closer look at the panels.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Life And Times"}]

As the group approached the canyon wall, careful not to touch anything, many images were easy to understand. The walls were covered with elk, deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, birds, and “Mister Bison,” the only bison depicted along the entire four-mile expanse.

Keeler noted that all the animals are extant, meaning 

 in Wyoming. No mammoths, lions, or other extinct animals 

There are also images recognizable as humans. They aren’t passive figures but are depicted as actively engaged with other figures in the same panel.

According to Keeler, most of the panels depict hunting scenes. It reveals how these nomadic tribes hunted and the tools they used to do it.

“We have a lot of hunting scenes,” he said. “It was a big deal to these people, because it took a lot of time and pride to make these panels. You can see different creators with different techniques.”

Many panels depict human figures wielding atlatls, one of the oldest weapons in human history, as they pursue pronghorn and deer.

Many of those same panels also have a repeating pattern of half-circles along a long horizontal line. Instead of an artistic flourish, this is believed to be another accurately depicted tool.

“We think these are large game nets,” Keeler said. “It was some sort of netting used to capture animals. We'll see a lot of that netting (pattern) with a bunch of animals running up to it.”

Keeler explained that many indigenous tribes set up nets and drove herds of animals toward them. An individual isolated at the point where several nets met would be much easier to kill.

“They would bring this antelope into a three-sided catch, and somebody at the end, the game caller, would whack it on the head,” he said. “It’s well-documented. Lewis and Clark witnessed the Cheyenne using these antelope traps, and they continued to use them up to the 1870s.”

“The game caller” is also a common figure in these rock panels. It’s a humanoid figure wielding a large object, like a club, over their head.

Keeler also noted another intriguing animal depicted alongside the human figures. The best explanation for these four-legged, pointed-ear creatures is that they’re images of domesticated dogs.

“You can see where the dogs were being used, running after the other animals,” he said. “Dogs were domesticated over 10,000 years ago, so that tracks.”

That’s where the age of Whoopup Canyon’s petroglyphs gets interesting.

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Whoopup Canyon is believed to be one of the oldest petroglyph sites in North America. However, age can be a tricky thing to determine.

Keeler referenced “Mister Bison” as a textbook example of accurate dating based on the patina of iron oxide and manganese covering the image, contrasted with a nearby elk.

“The elk is pretty cream-colored without much black on it, while the bison is completely black,” he said. “That means the image has to be older than the stuff covering it.”

The iron oxide-manganese patina can be dated using Carbon-14 and cation-ratio dating, and many of the panels have been.

Based on previous dating of the patina, “Mister Bison” is believed to be over 8,000 years old.

That might not even be the oldest image in the canyon. Samples from other panels have been dated from 2,500 years to 10,500 years old.

Today, dating is more difficult due to the mistakes of well-intentioned amateurs.

One of the most extraordinary petroglyph sites in North America is hidden away in a secret spot near Newcastle, Wyoming. The petroglyphs of Whoopup Canyon depicted in 150 sandstone panels are between 3,000 and 10,500 years old. Access is extremely limited.

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