The tipped-over red cutout cow decorated a few years ago by the Pendleton Whiskey Co. is back by popular demand at its spot outside the legendary Joe’s Drive-In Liquor Bar in Rock Springs.
Now closed, the mystique of Joe’s is still strong for a spot that earned a place in the Dive Bar Hall of Fame.
Property owner Angela Gaensslen characterized it as the “last rodeo” for the symbol of a favorite neighborhood dive bar that served Rock Springs locals for 64 years before closing in March.
Part of that was putting out the “Tipsy Cow” for the Red Desert Roundup Rodeo.
When Rock Springs Boy Scout Troop 4 set out the cows for its annual fundraiser this year, they wondered about keeping Joe’s cow in the barn, so to speak, and the scoutmaster asked if Gaensslen still wanted it displayed.
Gaensslen said she was also getting a lot of questions from Rock Springs residents about the cow.
“There was just a lot of people saying that they missed it and they wished it was out,” she said.
Gaensslen asked the Scouts if they could install it on her empty lot one more time.
The Joe’s cow has been part of the fundraising effort by Boy Scout Troop 4 for several years and has been possibly the most noticeable of a herd of 200 plywood cows. The cows are made by the Scouts, bought by Rock Springs businesses, decorated by the businesses, and then managed and stored by the Scout troop.
The businesses agree to lease the cow each year back from the troop to display during a six-week summer stretch that leads to the Red Desert Roundup. After the rodeo, which is July 25-26 this year, the cows are hauled away by the Scouts and stored for another 10 months.
Scoutmaster Bill Ruoff said the idea for the plywood cows came in the early 2000s from a fairgrounds staff member after the community searched for another way to promote the rodeo rather than having horses and cows parade through the city, and then deal with the cleanup.
The idea was to just put up a few fake cut-out cows to promote the rodeo.
“That kind of evolved into businesses maybe wanting to sponsor these cows,” he said. “We started with 20 and we used to store them at the fairgrounds.”
For years, the "tipsy cow" for Joe's Drive-In Liquor and Bar has been a favorite around rodeo time in Rock Springs. (Joe's Drive-In Liquor and Bar) 
For years, the "tipsy cow" for Joe's Drive-In Liquor and Bar has been a favorite around rodeo time in Rock Springs. (Joe's Drive-In Liquor and Bar) 
The first cow that was purchased by Joe’s Liquor and Bar was spray painted and put upside down with a beer bottle in its mouth. (Courtesy Angela Gaensslen)
Primary Fundraiser
The idea caught on and storage became an issue at the fairgrounds and so the Scout troop — which initially just provided the labor — took on thewhole project from the fairgrounds and have parlayed it into a fundraiser.
The wooden cows are now stored in sheds the Scouts rent when they are not standing — or in the case of the Joe’s Bar cow, laying — outside businesses.
“It’s turned into our primary fundraiser,” Ruoff said. “It funds our entire troop’s activities for the entire year, provides the uniforms and activity fees and everything we need to operate a scout troop.”
The cows have become such a thing in Rock Springs that not only businesses, but locals wanted cows for display on their properties.
Ruoff said the troop started making and selling “mini” cows that are 2 feet by 2 feet that people can display in their yards or gardens to support the rodeo. Unlike the full-size versions, the mini cows once sold are managed, designed and stored by the property owners.
As for the Joe’s Bar cow, Ruoff said he was thankful that when the business closed it decided to continue to store it, because he knew how popular it was in the community.
Then he and Gaensslen started talking.
“I was in contact with her and she expressed an interest in putting it back up on display this summer even though the business is closed,” Ruoff said.
Ruoff said the troop planned to sell the cow after this year’s display to a private party and that the money raised would be donated to the Food Bank of Wyoming.
Gaensslen said when she bought the first wooden cow from the Scout troop several years ago, it was her bartender Darchelle Valdez Calhoun who came up the idea to make it tipsy.
“I said, ‘What can we do to be different?’ She looked at me and said that we should put it upside down and put a bottle in its mouth,” Gaensslen said. “I was like, can we do that?”
The Boy Scouts of America Troop 4 in Rock Springs has its own cow that it displays. (Courtesy Bill Ruoff) 
Miniature versions of the cows used by businesses have been made to be sold in Rock Springs outlets. (Courtesy Bill Ruoff) 
Members of Boy Scouts of America Troop 4 in Rock Springs cut out a large cow using a template. The cow will be sold to a business. (Courtesy Bill Ruoff) 
The full-size cow that Boy Scouts of America Troop 4 displays towers above the “mini-cows” made to sell to local residents. (Courtesy Bill Ruoff)
The Response
They did, and the tipsy cow quickly became a town favorite.
Gaensslen said it “ruffled a few feathers,” but most “people just thought that it was hilarious.”
The original cow was spray painted. But over the years they would need a new cow because people would sit on it while taking selfies and break the horns, or the weather would eventually deteriorate it.
Other versions of the cow have been wrapped or decorated by various vendors, the last one a few years ago was done by Pendleton Whiskey.
“People get really intricate with their cows around here and they will pay to have them wrapped by companies or for professional painters to design and create them,” Gaensslen said. “It’s a big deal. It’s a big fundraiser.”
A Facebook post about cow being back on the pavement outside the bar generated a lot of buzz around Rock Springs. One person wanted to know why it didn’t have the beer bottle that typically was part of the display.
Another person wrote: “Our community has deep traditions … even for Joe’s tipped cow. Love it!”
Still another advocated for the cow to be auctioned so that the buyer can continue to put it out every year as part of the Rock Springs tradition.
Gaensslen said the bar and property that she bought in 2005 from longtime owner Larry Dernovich remains for sale. She said really wasn’t surprised by being approached by people about putting the cow out one more time.
“It was definitely a crowd favorite,” she said. “People just loved that cow being upside down. People laughed. People had their picture taken with it, it was just a huge draw.”
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
