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[{"type":"text","text":"This is what its like raising a boy...."}]

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

<title>Bonus Video 1: Tuesday, July 22, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

This is what its like raising a boy....

Bonus Video 1: Tuesday, July 22, 2025

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

Renée Jean

Business

The cornerstone of a western fashion empire rising in Saratoga wasn’t a bright idea. It was a problem — a whole series of them, in fact, starting with a beautiful belt that wouldn’t fit.

From a 150-square-foot spare bedroom to two warehouses and a patented D-ring system, Dixie and Kirby Berger have built their company, Pure Dixie, into an international western fashion brand and a favorite at some of the largest rodeos in the nation, from Cheyenne Frontier Days to the National Finals Rodeo.

They did it not by avoiding mistakes but by stubbornly working through them, one bad belt and one busted box of inventory at a time. 

The bad belt was a beaded strip that caught Dixie’s eye during Cheyenne Frontier Days a decade ago.

It took her hours and hours to make the belt once she got it home, sewing each little bead into place one by one.  

When she was finished, though, it was too long for a traditional belt buckle. It wasn’t going to fit.

“I gave it to my husband and I said, ‘I made this and I can’t take it apart. It’s all beaded,’” she told Cowboy State Daily. “You need to make this fit me because if I put a traditional buckle on, it just doesn’t fit.’”

Her husband, an expert leatherworker, had been helping his wife make embroidered leather belts they were selling in little totes at local rodeos. So he took her project back to his workshop to see what he could figure out. 

The system he came up with was to place a metal ring on one end of the belt that he could fit into slots along the other end. That made the belt not only shorter, but more adjustable. 

That was the birth of the couple’s patented D-ring system, which has made their business, Pure Dixie, an international best-seller, as well as frequent vendors at choosy venues like the National Finals Rodeo and Cheyenne Frontier Days.

“That system completely changed how we thought of our products,” Berger said. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The problems didn’t end there, though. "}]

Berger’s mom was always losing her cell phone, so one day she asked Dixie if she could make a purse for her.

“That’s how the crossbody minis came to attach to the front of the bag,” Berger said. “And so, through like a process of things that have happened in our life, the ideas kind of came full circle, almost in a moment.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Belt Everyone Wanted"}]

Long before any of that, though, the whole operation fit inside a single 150-square-foot bedroom. That solved a different problem for Dixie.

“I was a stay-at-home mom with three kids,” she said. “And I was not willing to give that up. So I set up my spare bedroom with an embroidery business, and then my husband had leather stuff upstairs with all the sewing machines.”

By day, Dixie watched her children and squeezed in embroidery orders whenever time allowed while her husband worked saddles and tack and chaps on his family’s ranch. 

At night, after their kids went to bed, the two combined their skills to make pieces, first just for each other and then for a growing list of customers. One of those first pieces was an embroidered leather belt with Wyoming’s bucking horse logo on it — a Christmas present for Dixie. 

Dixie was proud of that belt, so it went with her to lots of places — including ranch rodeos where other girls wanted to know where she’d gotten such a cool belt. 

When they learned she and her husband made it, Dixie found herself taking orders for more belts. Lots of them.

That led to the couple bringing some of their belts to ranch rodeos in totes and selling them on the spot. 

“So it wasn’t really on purpose,” Berger said with a chuckle. “It was definitely something that just came to us, and definitely something we’ve enjoyed pursuing.”

One day not long after Kirby came up with the D-ring system, the couple was showing off their belts to someone named Diana.

As Diana picked up each belt to inspect, she would sling the one she’d just looked at over one shoulder to look at another. 

The belts looked so nice draped over her shoulder it gave Dixie instant inspiration. 

She realized the belts could double as purse straps, creating a more customizable purse using the D-ring system her husband designed.

She feels those moments — the too-long belt,  her mom’s missing phone, and even a customer casually slinging belts over her shoulder — all stacked together into the core of Pure Dixie’s patented mix-and-match system. 

“That belt has become a pretty iconic piece for the business,” Dixie said. 

Over time Berger has continued to add mix-and-match ideas, including patches that snap on and off. Cowboy hats, ball caps, and crossbody-minis all have a set of four snaps for patches. Feel like a bucking horse one day, and a bow the next? No problem, there’s a patch for every mood and every occasion.

“I love the aspect where every girl kind of gets to design her piece, and so girls aren’t walking out of our booth looking the same,” Berger said.  “We have so many options that everybody gets to pick their unique style.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Two Warehouses Later"}]

Today, the business no longer fits in a tiny bedroom. The couple has built two warehouses and hired four to five full-time employees to help them scale up the business.

“We have a custom tannery that tans all of our leather,” Dixie said. “And we do have manufacturing now in Mexico that helps us, and then we do all the finish work in Saratoga.”

Learning to navigate mass manufacturing with a company in Mexico, though, was its own steep learning curve.

“So my very first box ... I spent all of my money on this box of inventory from Mexico to have my designs produced by someone just to test it and see,” she said. “So I spent all my money and every single piece came back incorrect.”

This wasn’t just a bad order. It was literally every dollar she had, tied up in a box of unusable bags. 

“I was pretty sad about it and just frustrated and pretty deflated,” she said. “And my husband said to me, ‘This is the moment where someone else gave up.’ He’s like, ‘If you can figure it out and push through it, you just went past someone who would have given up.’”

Instead of sending back the box or walking away, they hauled out every bag and fixed them one by one, leaning on the leather-working skills they’d honed since the spare-bedroom days. 

“That was probably 2016, 2017 that that happened,” she said. “So we took every single bag out. We fixed them all, since we know how to do leather work and we can fix about whatever.”

That box has rewired how Dixie thinks about every problem in her business. If she can get through it, she’s always stepping past the point where someone else would have quit.

“It’s like, if I can get through this issue, through this tariff issue, through this leather-production issue, through this logistics issue, you know, that’s where someone else gave up,” she said. “And I just don’t want to, we’ve decided we don’t want to give up. We just want to do the very best we can and keep pursuing the dream.”

For this couple, that dream looks like a world where they are building an international business together and the children are part of that effort in a tiny Wyoming town where they can remain close to family.

“We failed a lot and we did some things right,” Dixie said. “And we just kept at it. It was a step-by-step process.”

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<title>How A Saratoga Woman Built An International Western Fashion Brand From Her Bedroom | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Saratoga woman was determined to remain a stay-at-home mom, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t build an international Western fashion brand. Her business Pure Dixie started in a 150-square-foot bedroom, now takes up two warehouses and continues to grow.

How A Saratoga Woman Built An International Western Fashion Brand From Her Bedroom

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Jackie Dorothy.

Jackie Dorothy

Around Wyoming

MEETEETSE — “Cowboy” John Fremlin lived in the saddle for most of his life before pursuing his passion of collecting and selling the most unique western history he can find. 

Fremlin calls his antique shop in Meeteetse a working museum where customers can touch, buy, sell and trade everything. His items range from modern bronze statues worth tens of thousands to Sharp rifles from the 1800s and matchbox cars from the 1970s.

The building that houses the Hole-in-the-Wall Antique Store (aka Old West Antiques & Cowboy Curiosities) is itself rich in history. 

It is the old Masonic building that dates to the 1890s and whose members included Buffalo Bill Cody. It was also used as the community hall and school before it was converted into the Meeteetse Museum. 

[{"type":"text","text":"In the 1990s, it was “orphaned” and bought by Fremlin."}]

While most items can be found scattered in a mish-mash of treasures stored in every conceivable corne

Fremlin keeps the most valuable items locked in a safe. This includes the death mask of the master criminal John Dillinger and the wooden gun Dillinger hand-carved to break out of prison in March 1934 befor

ned down by law enforcement a few months later. 

“It's all documented,” Fremlin explained as he opened the safe and gingerly removed the plaster death mask, pointing out the bullet hole in the face. “We have wanted posters and a picture of the gun and that type of thing.”

it is hard to put a price on history, Fremlin said instead of cash he had traded a few Old West guns for the Dillinger relics. He has had the death mask and fake gun for a few years  and said it doesn’t matter if he never sells them because it is part of the memorable experience Fremlin wants to give customer

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"True History"}]

“People are really shocked and surprised when they come in,” Fremlin said. “A lot of antique stores sell reproduction items, but everything here is real, whether it's vintage from the 1970s or 200 years old.”

Another item in the safe is an 1870 beaded horse belt Fremlin bought from a German tourist. The customer collected cowboy items and was slowly liquidating his Native American collection when he stopped at Fremlin’s store.

Fremlin explained he never knows what treasures he will find and is on the lookout for the most interesting. His goal is to always have unique items and to keep the inventory interesting.

“We've had a lot of Buffalo Bill items that were owned by him and presented to other people,” Fremlin said. “We once had a collection from Tombstone owned by Doc Holiday. Just pretty neat stuff.”

It is a treasure hunt as customers sift through items piled around the store. A banjo valued at $20 grand is propped up beneath a silver-plated saddle. Buckskin beaded dresses vie for attentio

letterman jackets and vintage army helmets. Coins, toy cars and antique books line the counters and bookshelves. 

There are also plenty of mysterious items. In another corner of the store is a tarnished suit of armor the former owner thought was a movie prop from the 1920s or 30s.  Fremlin said he thinks more likely it was made in the 1950s in Mexico.

A current mystery of Frelim’s is an original painting of a lady in blue. The face intrigues him and he said he discovered, after much research, that the artist painted under several different names. He would love to know the subject’s backstory, but for now he is content that he at least knows who painted her. 

“Some of the customers get overwhelmed when they come in here,” Fremlin said. “They say they could spend all day in here and I go, I know, I do every day.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Stories"}]

Fremlin said he likes items that speak to him and the previous owner used but took good care of. He said he can even tell who owned certain items by the way they are worn down.

“For example, natives would carry a rifle on the pommel so that the front part of the wood would be worn down so much that it’s curved while cowboys kept theirs in a scabbard,” Fremlin said. “When you look at it, it just sort of speaks to you, the history just comes right off the item.”

Fremlin said he once had a Sharp’s buffalo gun and the owner had carved images into the stock. The carvings were intricate and some of the eyes of the animals were made of tiny brass to mark the eye. Fremlin said it was covered with history.

“You could imagine that what he was carving was everything that he shot,” Fremlin said. “There was a couple of bears, a moose and even a Native chief with a bow and arrow so you don't know whether maybe he was a Native guy or maybe he had been in the Indian wars.”

The gun was still in decent condition when Fremlin acquired it and said it was obviously a tool that the owner valued.

Fremlin said he has been interested in antiques since he was about 4 years old and started trading at an early age for unique items. Fremlin also admits he can misjudge what his customers will buy. He will buy boxes of items instead of sorting through them and said that things he would normally reject invariably sell first.

Fremlin also tries to research each item before he sells it so if a story is attached he can share it. An example was of a painting he discovered was of Arizona John Burke of the Buffalo Wild West Show.

“He was the very first employee of Buffalo Bill for the show and stayed with him until the end,” Fremlin said. “We could have sold that painting without doing the research but now it can go to someone who collects Buffalo Bill stuff to add to their collection.”

Fremlin said he gets to enjoy the items while  in his store and tries not to take anything home. His goal is to have a wide variety of real antiques, whether it is a vintage hot rod sitting in his yard or a beaded moccasin.

“I select items that have a 'wow' factor,” Fremlin said. “If it has a story, it probably will speak to other people and not just to me.”

Contact Jackie Dorothy at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com

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<title>Cowboy John's Hole-In-The-Wall Antiques Is A Western Time Capsule In Meeteetse | Cowboy State Daily</title>

From Dillinger’s death mask to items owned by Buffalo Bill, “Cowboy” John Fremlin collects relics for his Hole-in-the-Wall Antique Store in Meeteetse that speak to him and have a story to tell. "I select items that have the 'wow' factor," Fremlin says.

Cowboy John's Hole-In-The-Wall Antiques Is A Western Time Capsule In Meeteetse

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

Andrew Rossi

Wyoming Life

Lander resident John Applegate built a wooden bench and placed it along the popular Tomato Loop hiking trail during the COVID pandemic in 2020. Shortly after he put it there, it was stolen.

Applegate built another wooden bench and placed it in the same spot. 

The only logical solution was to take the time and effort to build a third bench and place it at the same spot where the others were stolen.

“Third time’s the charm,” Applegate told Cowboy State Daily. “I used a bunch of recycled wood, including old cabinets from the Lander Medical Clinic, and engraved everything on the back myself.”

Applegate has done this on his own time, with his own resources. He’s not bitter about the two stolen benches, but he hopes this one stays for the benefit of everyone in Lander.

“I want to give people the ability to enjoy the scenes around Lander that I've always enjoyed growing up here,” he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Right Spot"}]

A few years ago, Applegate wanted to lose weight. One of the ways he shed some pounds was by repeatedly hiking the Tomato Loop Trail with his wife.

“I lost 100 pounds, and hiking that trail was part of it,” he said. “Before I lost the weight, I’d get halfway up this one hill and just about die.  There was a little bench at the top, overlooking the Lander Llama Company, and I always took my break on that bench and enjoyed the view.”

That’s what inspired Applegate to build a bench for the hilltop. He knew people would savor the opportunity to sit and absorb the view.

“It’s been a favorite spot of mine, and I always enjoy the view,” he said. “I think it offers iconic views of Lander.”

Applegate sells repurposed pallet wood and laser art through his business, Four Finger Wood Art. His finished bench was engraved with the coordinates of Lander and the iconic Steamboat emblem, and took around 40 hours to complete.

[{"type":"text","text":"Shortly after he put the bench on the Tomato Loop, it was stolen. "}]

“People told me how much they enjoyed the first bench, so I made another one,” he said. “I put a bit more design into it, more of the artistic side of what I do, and made it sturdier to accommodate more people.”

Applegate placed the second bench in the same spot in August 2025. It was gone before the end of September.

“I was driving down Mortimer Lane, which I like to do, and saw that it was missing,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it. Who would do that?”

Applegate hoped the culprits would bring the bench back so everyone could enjoy it. They never did.

“If someone likes my work so much, I’ll make them their own bench,” he said. “I’d probably make it at no cost, because that’s what I do. This bench was meant to be a quiet gift to the community. A place to pause, breathe, and enjoy the scenery. Sadly, someone took it.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"One More Time"}]

Even after his second bench was stolen, Applegate thought he'd make another one. He placed it on the same hilltop, overlooking the Lander Llama Company, on June 26.

“Built by hand, shaped by a little stubbornness, and made to belong right where it stands,” he said.

Rather than using any templates, each wooden bench was custom-designed. Applegate said he let the process and materials dictate the designs.

“I like to repurpose stuff,” he said. “It’s a challenge for me, and I like the challenge. That’s one of the reasons why I keep making them. I never make the same bench twice. They’re all different.”

Applegate had a bit more fun with this one. Once it was ready for engraving, he decided to shake things up and pay homage to the residents at the base of the hill.

“I put the Bucking Horse on the other benches, but I kept thinking about the little llamas and decided to incorporate them instead,” he said. “It turned out pretty good.”

The new bench is flanked by engravings of llamas on either side. Lander’s coordinates are still engraved on the new bench, so everyone knows where they are.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It turned out pretty good,” he said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Think Thrice, Thieves"}]

The new bench is the fourth wooden bench Applegate has made and gifted to the Lander community. Another bench he placed in town was also stolen shortly after he finished it.

“That one was on Buena Vista Drive before it vanished,” he said. “Someone replaced it with a marble bench, so nobody’s stealing that.”

That said, Applegate has taken certain precautions with his latest project. After three benches and three thefts, he’s built in some security.

“I won't give a whole lot of detail, but if it does go missing, I'll know when and where it goes,” he said.

The owners of the Lander Llama Company, Scott and Therese Woodruff, loved the benches and were furious when they were stolen. They’ve elected to add their own anti-theft security.

“They asked if I didn't mind if they made an anchor or something to secure it, because they enjoy that bench just as much as everybody else,” Applegate said. “I told them I’m perfectly fine with that.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Gift For All"}]

Now that the Tomato Loop hilltop has a spot to sit, Applegate can pursue new benches and vistas. He’s already got another one in mind.

“There’s a spot going up Sinks Canyon where a lot of people like to stop and watch the elk when they’re there,” he said. “I’m thinking I might make one for that spot, as well.”

Nevertheless, Applegate hopes he won’t have to build another bench for the Tomato Loop. He wants to enjoy his handiwork as much as anyone else.

“Honestly, if someone took this bench, that's flattering,” he said. “If they like it, I wish they would reach out, talk to me, and ask me to make one for them. I’d probably do it for free. There's no monetary value in it for me. I like the challenge and giving back to the community that's given a lot to me.”

Applegate hasn’t let himself be deterred by the previous thefts. He described the new bench as “a project I really wanted to see through.”

“It’s sitting over the same Wyoming view that made the spot worth building for in the first place,” he said. “I’m happy to finally have it finished, set in place, and ready to be enjoyed again.”

Lander Bench 729479842 10241678841129477 1814757890374731526 n 8 1 26

<title>Lander Man Builds Third Wooden Bench For Community After First Two Stolen | Cowboy State Daily</title>

After the first two benches he built were stolen, a Lander man is giving it a third attempt. He's built yet another wooden bench and gave it to his neighbors so they can enjoy the iconic views of the popular Tomato Loop hiking trail. "Third time's the charm," he said.

Lander Man Builds Third Wooden Bench For Community After First Two Stolen

Business & Tourism

Another of Wyoming’s legacy ranches is hitting the market after nearly a century of stewardship. The T Diamond Ranch comes with a front-row seat to the Black Hills, as well as history to match.

It’s tucked into Crook County just a few miles from the South Dakota border on a 433-acre spread where trout streams, 

red bluffs and Wyoming tax laws all come together for a $5 million asking price.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Deep Historic Roots"}]

Aerial photos of the property show Lower Redwater Creek meandering through, with pine-studded hills and red-rock cliffs in the background. The ranch is part of an operation that was founded by the Matthews family, who trailed into Wyoming from Texas, first settling near Gillette in 1888 then expanding outward to Sundance and Spearfish. 

In Spearfish, the family is known for the Matthews Block, which includes the Matthews Opera House, a vibrant community arts center.

T Diamond Ranch is one-fourth of a larger ranch the Matthews family owned. It includes the 1930s farmstead and dairy, along with other working ranch structures. These are not relics. They are part of what is already a working cattle ranch rated for about 50 head. 

With an existing lease in place, there’s an immediate income stream.

But it’s not just the original farmhouse and ranch structures that come with this property. There’s a 7,500-square-foot mansion as well, built In 2001.

“They spared no expense when they built it,” Hayden Outdoors listing agent Kerry Englemann told Cowboy State Daily. “It’s just a beautiful, beautiful place.” 

The home was built with entertaining in mind, so has expansive gathering spaces in addition to three bedrooms and seven full bathrooms. Large windows frame a sweeping view of the scenery, including creek bottoms below. 

The interior is finished with warm wood, high-quality appliances, and multiple fireplaces. The price competitive compared to other areas with the kind of outdoor recreation the Black Hills offer.

“This would probably be $20 million in Jackson Hole,” Englemann said. “We sold a ranch down the road there last year for $2.5 million, and it had no improvements to the property, so no residence and no working ranch headquarters.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Where The Trout Live"}]

With few neighbors nearby, and easements that protect the character of all four of the original ranches that were part of this cluster, the new owner will feel as though they’ve found a private sanctuary, he said. 

“It’s rough country, it’s Wyoming country,” Englemann said. “But when you get down to the running water, it’s just beautiful. You have those rugged red bluffs and the contrast with the green riparian area, with all the things you want to see as a country boy.”

Water is a highlight on this turnkey ranch, with substantial, long-standing water rights that support about 125 acres of riparian and irrigated hay bottom along Lower Redwater Creek. That supports one to two cuttings of grass and grass legume hay every season, he said. 

Two registered wells serve the headquarters, providing water to both residences, as well as for domestic stock use. There’s a permanent stock water pipeline easement delivering year-round stock water to the southern grazing units. 

“The highlight is the running water,” Englemann said. “The Redwater Creek — in South Dakota they call it Redwater River — is just beautiful. Those riparian areas are just lush, and there’s trout swimming.”

It’s the kind of fishing many people travel hundreds of miles to find, Englemann said. Lower Redwater Creek runs the length of the property, offering cold, clear trout water starting about 100 yards from the mansion’s backdoor. 

Hay bottoms and timbered draws create wildlife habitat too, attracting whitetail deer, mule deer, turkeys, and elk, who roam freely from the nearby Black Hills National Forest and creek corridor, as well as plenty of upland birds that work the field edges and frequent the creek, Englemann said.

The ranch is also situated to access the Black Hills in both Wyoming and South Dakota, but it comes with a much lower tax bill than its neighboring state. 

“I don’t know what the exact percentages are, but when I look at properties that are similar to my property in South Dakota, my tax bill for that property is somewhere around $7,000 to $8,000 a year,” he said. “And if you go across the border to Wyoming those taxes might be around $1,200 a year. So it’s a huge discrepancy in terms of property taxes.”

The range of outdoor recreation opportunities includes horseback riding, hiking, mountain biking and backcountry skiing. The historic mining town of Deadwood, Devils Tower, Spearfish Canyon, Black Hills National Forest — all are within a half-hour or so drive. 

Rapid City, a regional hub with medical specialists, an airport with flights to Denver and Dallas as well as seasonal routes to Chicago, Las Vegas and Orlando, is 63 miles away. 

Noncommercial recreation on the ranch is protected in perpetuity by a conservation partnership, ensuring the property’s open-space character and ranching heritage remain intact.

T Diamond Ranch 35 Aerial primary residence and grounds from above adjusted 1784821086 scaled 8 1 26

<title>T Diamond Ranch, Legacy Black Hills Spread, Hits Wyoming Market For $5 Million | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Another of Wyoming’s legacy ranches is hitting the market after nearly a century of stewardship. The T Diamond Ranch in Crook County comes with a 7,500-square-foot mansion, trout streams, scenic red bluffs, and a front-row seat to the Black Hills.

T Diamond Ranch, Legacy Black Hills Spread, Hits Wyoming Market For $5 Million

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

For nearly 60 years, Vern Palmer has been obsessed with Wyoming license plates.

The 90-year-old Big Piney man has spent decades roaming old ranches, forgotten dumping grounds and dusty corners of Sublette County looking for pieces of Wyoming history most people would walk right past.

[{"type":"text","text":"It all started with his oldest son, Jim."}]

Together, the two spent weekends crisscrossing ranches, hunting for rusted treasures hidden beneath the sagebrush. Along the way they uncovered old bottles, antique tools, barbed wire, weathered signs and hundreds of Wyoming license plates.

Today, Palmer's collection includes every Wyoming license plate from 1914 to the present, along with every Sublette County plate issued since county numbers were added in the early 1930s. He's also just four states shy of collecting one plate from all 50.

[{"type":"text","text":"But after six decades of searching, there's one he hasn't yet found."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The elusive 1913 Wyoming license plate."}]

"I do think that it's around Big Piney somewhere," Palmer said. "I found the 1914 plate pretty close to my home, but I have not found the 1913."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Family Tradition"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Jim likes to remind people that, technically, he started the collection."}]

As a boy in the late ‘60s, he began picking up old license plates in remote places of the Upper Green River Valley. Before long, his dad was just as hooked.

Summer weekends often meant disappearing into the middle of nowhere with no guarantee they'd find a thing. Palmer rarely bought license plates. Nearly every one in his collection came off the ground.

"He just liked going through old dump grounds looking for old treasures," Jim said. "Old glass ... old artifacts ... tools that you wouldn't find anymore. He just had a passion to find those things."

[{"type":"text","text":"That passion eventually spread to a third generation."}]

His grandson, Joel Florquist, remembers countless summer days wandering through the country with his grandfather.

"A lot of times we didn't find any," Florquist said. "But a lot of times we did."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Before Modern Conveniences"}]

Long before he became Wyoming's unofficial license plate historian, Palmer grew up on a Colorado farm where life looked different.

The family raised cattle, horses, hogs and chickens. They grew vegetables and fruit. His father worked as a carpenter.

[{"type":"text","text":"There was no television, no refrigerator and no indoor plumbing."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"His mother washed clothes in an irrigation ditch using a washboard."}]

When electricity finally reached the farm, the power company installed a single light bulb in the middle of the house and one electrical outlet.

"We didn't have anything to plug into it," Palmer recalled with a laugh. "But it was kind of nice to sit under the globe and do our schoolwork because it was a lot better than the lamp we'd been using."

For nearly 60 years, Vern Palmer has searched Wyoming ranches and forgotten dumps for old Wyoming license plates. At 90, the Big Piney mechanic has a Wyoming license plate from every year, except one. Palmer says he's not giving up his search.

Bonus Video 1: Tuesday, July 22, 2025

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