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

<title>Steve Inman: Thursday, April 16, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Steve Inman: Thursday, April 16, 2026

 An angry customer scores complimentary Whoppers, as narrated by MMA announcer, Steve Inman.....

Julie Mankin

Native American Tribes

When the Indian relay races return to the Sheridan WYO Rodeo next month, it will be without the event's longtime announcer of the past 30 years, who quit over an interaction with local law enforcement he claims had "racist overtones."

Kennard Real Bird said he will not return as announcer after the rodeo's directors declined to stand behind him and call out the Sheridan County Sheriff's Office for what Real Bird claims was inappropriate treatment of him after a 2025 arrest.

“I just had an issue with local law enforcement,” said Real Bird, an artist whose 2011 painting "Crow War Pony" hangs in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. “I live on an island, so to speak, here on the reservation, and we don’t encounter racism here on a daily basis.”

"As a result of this incident with racist overtones, I decided to not go back for any further humiliation by the Sheridan community," he adds in a June 19 Facebook post about the interactions.

Real Bird, 76, of the Crow Reservation in southeastern Montana, began calling Sheridan’s Indian relay races with his own brand of politically incorrect but engaging humor when the races were added to the rodeo in 1997. 

Real Bird told Cowboy State Daily he isn't retiring. He plans to call Indian relay races this summer at Cheyenne Frontier Days — which just added the event on both weekends — and at Wyoming Downs, plus rodeos in North Dakota, Montana and Alberta. 

In September, Real Bird will announce the 10th annual Championship of Champions, a three-day event held for the first time at Cheyenne’s Frontier Park.

[{"type":"text","text":"But he won't be in Sheridan."}]

“I’ve been in a grieving period knowing I’m not going back to Sheridan,” Real Bird said. “I love that audience — their love for the sport and the respect they give the Indian kids.”

[{"type":"text","text":"'Insulted An Humilitated'"}]

Real Bird said he was pulled over in July 2025 by the Wyoming Highway Patrol leaving the rodeo over a bench warrant for his arrest based on an unpaid 2018 speeding ticket. 

He said paid the ticket in 2022, when while attempting to renew his Montana driver’s license he was told by his DMV the Wyoming fine must be paid first.

“I paid it electronically,” he said. “A couple of days later, I went back to the DMV and they said, ‘OK, Wyoming has released your hold because you paid the fine.’ And they renewed my license.”

Nevertheless, Real Bird said he was handcuffed and taken to the Sheridan County Detention Center, where he was “insulted and humiliated” when stripped of his belt and boots and handcuffed to a counter.

“I asked, ‘Is this necessary?’” he recalled. “I’m 76 years old. I’ve been sober 49 years of my life. I was not a flight risk or a threat. I don’t know why they would want to treat me like that, other than me being an Indian.”

Deputy Dillon Buckmeier of the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Department said it's the same standard procedure for all bookings.

“We do a pat-down, take a photo, put them in a changing room to remove clothes, which we search, and we cuff them to a chair or the counter while they’re booked,” Buckmeier told Cowboy State Daily. “It’s safer if they’re secured.”

It was the second time in recent years an incident in Sheridan offended Real Bird, he said.

For decades, the former bronc rider, who still raises bucking horses, would make his way down behind the chutes to watch the rodeo’s bronc riding. One time, he had his young grandsons in tow. 

PRCA rules forbid kids behind the chutes, so security removed the Real Bird family.

Sheridan WYO Rodeo Executive Director Zane Garstad and WYO Indian Relay Director Jess Sams talked Real Bird into returning to keep announcing the races after that. 

And Sams asked him to return in 2026 as well, telling Real Bird the rodeo board doesn't get involved in what happens outside the fairgrounds. 

[{"type":"text","text":"'He's One Of A Kind'"}]

Real Bird's successor announcing the Indian races at the WYO Rodeo will be Randy Taylor, a University of Wyoming graduate and former National Finals Rodeo bareback rider of Cherokee descent. 

Taylor has known Real Bird since he was invited to Montana by the Crow Tribe to ride bucking horses and put up teepees in the 1980s.

“Indian relay is our country’s original extreme sport,” Taylor said. “Kennard’s family has been riding, raiding or bucking horses for 400 years. When the board asked me to do the job, I called Kennard first. I wanted his blessing and received it. 

"I’ll try to follow his path, but I’m not able to fill his moccasins. He’s one of a kind.”

Garstad said in a recent statement about Taylor that the WYO’s growth is largely due to Real Bird’s contributions.

Garstad pointed out the community continues to invest annually in the Indian Village and First Peoples’ Pow Wow. And Isabella Yellowtail, this year’s Miss Sheridan WYO Rodeo, is the second queen to hail from the Crow Reservation and first since Lucy Yellow Mule in 1951.

Sams said Real Bird will always have a home at the Sheridan WYO, and Real Bird said he remains fond of the event. Aware of rumors that some Indian relay teams might boycott because of his departure, Real Bird discourages the idea.

“Sheridan is one of the greatest places for Indian relay,” he said. “The athleticism and choreography are amazing. In the 1990s, a lot of the Indians were boozed up and not worthy. I wanted Native American teams to gain some respect. Over the years, we’ve developed professionalism. 

"I wanted to be part of that voice to elevate their stature. That’s what I think I did.”

[{"type":"text","text":"But he is standing firm on not returning."}]

“All I wanted was the board to stand behind me,” he said. “If they’re not willing to upset the law enforcement community, then I’m not willing to go back.

“I feel I’m justified in not going back. But I’m not putting a blanket indictment on the community of Sheridan. I just wanted the board whom I’ve dealt with for 30 years to have said, ‘Wait a minute, Mr. Law Enforcement, it wasn’t right what you did to Mr. Real Bird. He’s a valuable member of our community.'”

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<title>Longtime Voice Of Sheridan Indian Relay Quits Over Traffic Stop With 'Racist Overtones' | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The longtime voice of the Sheridan Indian Relay Races has quit over an interaction with law enforcement he claims had "racist overtones." He said the decision to not return was because the rodeo's board didn't stand behind him and condemn his treatment.

Longtime Voice Of Sheridan Indian Relay Quits Over Traffic Stop With 'Racist Overtones'

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Wildlife

A 12-year-old was taken to an area hospital after being hurt by a bison Friday near Mud Volcano, which is just north of Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone National Park.

The National Park Service announced the incident in a statement, but did not reveal much information, including the child’s gender, the extent of the injuries or what led up to the child’s altercation with the bison.

The incident happened at about 9:15 a.m., the agency reports.

“The visitor sustained injuries, and emergency medical personnel transported them to a nearby hospital,” according to the NPS statement. “The incident remains under investigation."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Watch For The Tail Raise"}]

Biologist George Wuerthner told Cowboy State Daily that bison frequently signal irritation with body language, specifically “if they stick their tail up in the air.”

“That’s how they indicate to the herd that something is wrong,” he said, adding that it’s similar to white-tailed deer raising their tails to signal danger.

As to what might have caused the bison to attack the child, Wuerthner said that without a detailed account of the incident, that could be difficult to determine.

“The usual thing is people getting too close” to bison, said Wuerthner, who has worked in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem for decades and is president of the Montana Wild Bison Coalition.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Not Cattle"}]

Yellowstone bison are used to having crowds around them, so they might seem somewhat complacent around people, but park visitors shouldn’t take that for granted, Wuerthner said.

“People tend to think of them like cattle,” he said. "But then again, cattle hurt people too, so that’s not a good assumption to make."

According to park rules, people should stay back at least 100 yards from wolves and bears, and 25 yards away from other wildlife, including bison.

Frequent Yellowstone visitor and wildlife photographer April Holm told Cowboy State Daily that she’d previously seen some spooky bison activity in the same general area where the child was reportedly injured.

A couple of weeks ago “we saw a very spicy bison, and a guy almost got gored by him,” she stated in a text message.

“I wonder if it’s the same one (bison),” she added. "I don’t know exactly where the kid got hurt, so I’m not saying it’s the same one.”

Bison sign 6 3 24

<title>12-Year-Old Visitor Hurt By Yellowstone Bison, Sent To Hospital | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 12-year-old was taken to an area hospital Friday after being hurt by a bison just north of Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone National Park. This is the first recorded bison attack in Yellowstone of the year.

12-Year-Old Visitor Hurt By Yellowstone Bison, Sent To Hospital

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

Courts

A 41-year-old Cody woman who was arrested Wednesday after a 

 with local police was allegedly taking a haul of collectible coins and firearms from the house of her late grandparents.

Dawn Blaylock had her first appearance in Cody Circuit Court on Friday, and charged with felony aggravated burglary, criminal trespass, interference with a peace officer, reckless endangerment and property damage.

The standoff was the culmination of a monthslong family dispute over a trust created to handle the estate of a family member, says an affidavit of probable cause written by Cody Police Detective Tyler Eubanks.

Another family member has control of the trust, but Blaylock claimed she was the legal owner of the coins and firearms, and that they were stolen from her. So, she was taking them back when confronted in the home by the Cody Police Department.

“Dawn claimed that the guns, coins and other valuable pieces within the home were stolen from her,” Eubanks wrote.

She also admitted using a rock to break a window to get into the house on Wednesday, the affidavit says.

On Thursday, Blaylock’s vehicle was searched, which was still at the home of the late family members, where police found a cache of weapons and other valuable items. Those include:

• A Winchester Model 101 over/under shotgun with three barrel assemblies.

[{"type":"text","text":"• The frame of a 1911 handgun."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"• More than 1,000 rounds of ammunition."}]

“Officers found hundreds of dollars in coins also,” the affidavit says, adding there also were “more than 100 coins in protective plastic and paper cases which appeared as if they were valuable.”

Some of the items found in her vehicle “were identical” to things the family member in charge of the trust had documented as having been taken more than a week prior.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘I Don’t Want To Answer That Right Now’"}]

Along with aggravated burglary, which is an elevated charge because she used a weapon during the standoff, Blaylock also was found in possession of suspected illegal drugs, the affidavit says.

“I asked Dawn what she was doing before she went to the house,” Eubanks wrote. “Dawn stated she was drinking and smoking a bowl, which I knew is a slang phrase for smoking marijuana.”

When asked if she smoked any drugs other than marijuana, Blaylock hesitated.

“Yeah, I don’t want to answer that right now,” she said, according to the affidavit. “I don’t want to stay in this jail any longer than I have to. I’d like to talk to a lawyer before I talk to anyone.

“I want to help you; can I say that first and foremost. I want to tell you everything that I know … but I don’t want to screw me so much that I can’t ever get out of here to see my kids again. Does that make sense?”

Blaylock landed on the CPD’s radar about three weeks earlier when the family member reported that trust assets were being illegally disposed of by Blaylock, the affidavit says.

He reported that she had allegedly been selling and pawning coins and firearms that were owned by her late grandfather, but that he was the only person legally able to dispose of the property under the trust.

“Over the course of the next couple weeks, (the man) had begun tracking down the property which Dawn had given away or sold,” the affidavit says. “These items are assets of the trust and were stored in the residence.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Standoff"}]

It was 1:20 p.m. Wednesday when the CPD alerted area residents of an active law-enforcement situation in the 700 block of Meadow Lane Avenue near the Olive Glenn Golf Course, police report.

Several streets in the area were blocked by vehicles from multiple responding law enforcement agencies, including the CPD’s ballistic armored tactical transport vehicle, or “bearcat.”

When officers arrived at the house, they observed a broken window and a large rock about 3 feet away, the affidavit says.

[{"type":"text","text":"When they entered the house, Blaylock was located in the master bathroom."}]

“Dawn expressed she was armed and refused to come out,” Eubanks wrote. “Law enforcement used a remote camera to look under the door and verified Dawn did have a firearm.”

She was advised “multiple times” she was under arrest, and was ultimately taken into custody after about four hours of negotiations.

After that is when the family member in charge of the trust was able to get into the house and verify missing items, including collectible coins, a statue of a puma, and about 20 firearms.

If convicted of the most serious charge, the felony aggravated burglary, Blaylock could get between five and 25 years in prison, a fine of up to $50,000, or both.

At her initial court appearance Friday, a preliminary hearing on her charges was set for July 6.

Standoff 2 6 24 26

<title>Police Say Cody Woman In Four-Hour Standoff Was Taking Coins, Guns From Home | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Cody woman in a four-hour standoff Wednesday was allegedly taking collectible coins and firearms from the house of her late grandparents, police say. She “claimed that the guns, coins and other valuable pieces were stolen from her,” the CPD reports.

Police Say Cody Woman In Four-Hour Standoff Was Taking Coins, Guns From Home

Prosecutors claim that a Fremont County BLM law enforcement officer accused of killing another man during a January bar fight didn’t act responsibly to protect others, and instead “advances like a predator” before applying a deadly chokehold.

That characterization of how Richard “Deak” Dollard acted on the evening of Jan. 9 during a brawl at the Maverick Bar in Lander is included in a Thursday prosecution response to a motion from Dollard’s attorney to dismiss the second-degree murder charge he faces.

The June 8 motion filed by Casper-based defense attorney Ryan Semerad argues Richard Dollard can’t be prosecuted “for his proper use of reasonable defensive force to protect others.”

Those others include Dollard’s brother, Justin, and nephew, Jesse, who were both involved in a physical fight with 38-year-old Evan Denevan.

Denevan was fighting with Justin when Richard came into the room and pulled Denevan off his brother, putting him in a restraining hold that prosecutors refer to as a “chokehold” in court documents, but the defense adamantly denies any choking pressure was applied.

What both sides seem to agree on is what was captured on multiple cellphone videos and bar surveillance is Richard holding Denevan around his face and neck area for about 30 seconds, then putting him on the floor.

He died at the scene, according to court documents.

In his motion to dismiss, Semerad argues that Denevan was the aggressor and that Richard acted calmly and with restraint to protect his brother and others from danger.

Only after someone at the bar called out multiple times for Denevan to stop “did Richard step in, taking hold of Evan to pull him away from Justin, the woman, and the crowd of bar patrons standing within punching distance,” the motion to dismiss says.

“I don’t believe my client was angry or emotional,” Semerad told Cowboy State Daily on Friday. “I think he saw the situation and his mentality was not anger or emotion, it was, ‘How do I protect everyone in this situation from being hurt.’”

That’s not what the evidence and witnesses show, prosecutors allege in their response.

“The defendant advances like a predator — he appears to know his goal when he enters the room and he advances unchecked upon the same,” according to the response. “He advances intentionally and deliberately.”

Semerad called the description of his client as a “predator” in the response as “pure rhetoric” and an attempt to “try to characterize this encounter” as something it wasn’t.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Reasonable Force’"}]

That Richard Dollard only applied a non-lethal hold on Denevan is clearly “not the case” based on video and other evidence, prosecutors say. Most notably, if the hold was non-lethal, why did he die?

“Although the defendant’s claim is that he gripped the decedent in a non-lethal hold meant to control the situation, the video makes it quite clear that this is not the case,” the response to the motion to dismiss says.

“The hold is lethal by self-definition of the circumstances,” the document adds.

Conversely, Semerad said it’s murky at best about what caused Denevan to die that night, as there were other potential health issues that may have contributed to his death.

“There seems to be some kind of disconnect” in what really caused his death, Semerad said. “He perceived the decedent attacking his brother … and there were people in harm’s way. 

“He came over to protect everybody with the use of reasonable force.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"That Night"}]

An evidentiary affidavit by a Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agent filed days after the incident in Lander Circuit Court describes a brawl which at one point contained eight to 10 people, unfolding at the Maverick Bar around 11 p.m. on Jan. 9.

A 911 caller beckoned Lander Police Department officers to the scene at around 11:15 p.m. 

The caller indicated “we have someone down at the Maverick Bar, he’s not breathing, he’s all purple,” says the affidavit.

LPD officers arrived and found Denevan lying on his back near the pool tables with bystanders trying to help him, the document says.

Officers began life-saving measures, but later noted that the man’s face was “slightly purple in color” and they weren’t able to find a carotid pulse. Fremont County emergency medical personnel arrived as well to help, but “Denevan was determined to be deceased,” says the affidavit.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"LPD secured the bar as a crime scene."}]

Initial witness statements reportedly describe a fight between Denevan and the three Dollard men.

Justin Dollard in his interview with LPD detectives confirmed he was involved in the fight.

Denevan had previously said he would “whip” Justin, the latter reportedly said, and had threatened to fight both Justin and Jesse Dollard.

Denevan had yelled at the Dollard father and son, “If you come over here, I will kick your ass,” the affidavit relates.

Then, according to Justin’s interview and Jesse’s separate interview, Denevan removed his hat and glasses as if preparing for a fight.

Justin Dollard told detectives he approached Denevan, who came back and hit him, “and the fight broke out,” the affidavit relates. 

Along with Richard facing a charge of second-degree murder, Justin has been charged with accessory before the fact to second-degree murder, and Jesse with accessory before the fact to manslaughter.

If convicted, Richard and Justin face 20 years to life in prison, while Jesse could get a maximum of 20 years in prison.

All three have been set for a combined trial that’s scheduled for eight days beginning Nov. 2.

Dollards and Maverick bar 2 3 26

<title>Lander Man Wants Murder Charge Dismissed, Says Force In Bar Fight ‘Reasonable’ | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Lander man facing a second-degree murder charge for a fatal January bar brawl wants the charge dismissed, saying he used “reasonable” force. Prosecutors disagree, saying he “advances like a predator” on the victim in a Thursday response.

Lander Man Wants Murder Charge Dismissed, Says Force In Bar Fight ‘Reasonable’

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Wyoming Life

For much of the week, the southeast corner of Wyoming sat beneath a series of severe thunderstorm and tornado watches as forecasters warned of damaging winds and isolated twisters.

For many Wyomingites, especially those living around Cheyenne, the warnings were nothing new.

While tornadoes often grab the headlines, longtime residents know another summer menace can be just as destructive: monster hail.

The southeast corner of Wyoming has earned a reputation for storms capable of dropping baseball-sized chunks of ice, shredding roofs, smashing windshields and turning an ordinary June afternoon into an insurance adjuster's busiest day of the year.

Meteorologists say that's no accident. Wyoming's unique geography helps create some of the nation's most favorable conditions for severe hail-producing thunderstorms.

Cheyenne meteorologist Colby Goatley said June marks the beginning of Wyoming's most active severe weather season because warm, moisture-rich air from the Gulf of Mexico finally pushes far enough north to collide with colder air arriving from Canada.

[{"type":"text","text":"That combination creates the unstable atmosphere thunderstorms thrive on."}]

Meteorologists begin each morning searching for the ingredients that could transform an ordinary summer afternoon into one filled with severe weather warnings.

Moisture near the ground, colder air aloft, an unstable atmosphere and shifting winds at different elevations all help determine whether thunderstorms are likely to become severe.

"June is an active month because the warm, moist air primarily from the Gulf ... is finally able to start intruding into this region," Goatley said. "Combined with the colder air we're getting from the north, it helps fuel thunderstorm activity."

[{"type":"text","text":"Justin Ochsner has spent years watching what those storms leave behind."}]

The Cheyenne roofing contractor with Residential Roofing LC said southeast Wyoming is so prone to damaging hail that people in the industry simply call it "a hail market."

"The general lifespan of a roof in Cheyenne is about eight years, just because of weather — between wind and hail," Ochsner said.

Elsewhere in the country, asphalt-shingle roofs often last 20 years or more. In southeast Wyoming, intense ultraviolet rays, relentless winds, freeze-thaw cycles and frequent hail dramatically shorten that lifespan.

"We do live in what we call a hail market because we get hit with hail so often," Ochsner said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Some years produce relatively little damage. Then the cycle flips."}]

"We might have a drought for three or four years, and then we'll get hit two or three years in a row," Ochsner said.

He points to Aug. 1, 2025, as one of the worst recent examples, when baseball- and softball-sized hail battered parts of Cheyenne. The phones started ringing as homeowners discovered damaged roofs across the city, he said.

Even homeowners who invest in impact-resistant shingles aren't always spared.

Fresh hail damage often appears as dark bruises on shingles, Ochsner said. Over time, Wyoming's intense sunshine eats away the damaged asphalt until the fiberglass mat underneath is exposed, eventually leading to leaks if the roof isn't replaced.

For lifelong Cheyenne residents, severe summer weather is simply part of living on the High Plains.

State Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, remembers destructive hailstorms in 2018 and again last Aug. 1. But the city's history with violent weather stretches back much further.

As a child more than 30 years ago, Brown remembers tornadoes touching down around Cheyenne. His parents still talk about the 

 and the August 1, 1985 flood, which killed 12 people. The flooding claimed lives in what is now Brown's legislative district.

"Lots of stuff has happened here," Brown said. "We have such a unique setup here that a lot of people don't realize just how unique Cheyenne is."

That history has shaped how residents react when severe weather is forecast.

"If they know it's happening, they try to go find a place to go," Brown said, referring to moving vehicles under cover. "But there's also people that just ... know that it's part of living in Cheyenne, that we're going to have hail-damaged cars for a while."

While this week's storms have passed, Brown said nobody in Cheyenne believes the season is over.

"Frontier Days is always the time that we get one or two good storms," he said.

For Goatley, Wyoming's reputation for unpredictable weather is well earned.

Within the weather community, he said, forecasters know just how active the state can become during the summer.

[{"type":"text","text":"The public, perhaps, not so much."}]

"People are looking at the Plains," Goatley said. "But we're where the storms like to start."

[{"type":"text","text":"The answer, in large part, lies in the Rockies and the Laramie Range."}]

Storms frequently develop along Wyoming's higher terrain before drifting east onto the plains, where atmospheric conditions become especially favorable for hail growth.

"The mountains themselves serve as a great initialization for storms," Goatley said. "You'll see them form off that terrain and then move eastward."

Many of those same storms continue marching into Nebraska and Kansas, but southeast Wyoming often experiences the earliest and most explosive stages of their development.

[{"type":"text","text":"As Goatley puts it: \"We're where the storms like to start.\""}]

Goatley said Wyoming residents — particularly those living east of the mountains — are more likely to contend with hail and damaging straight-line winds than tornadoes.

[{"type":"text","text":"For newcomers, that's one of the first lessons summer teaches."}]

"Definitely the hail," Goatley said when asked what people moving to Wyoming should know. "Especially east of the mountains."

Although tornadoes do occur in Wyoming, he said residents shouldn't expect the giant, long-track twisters more commonly associated with the Southern Plains.

"It's definitely something to at least be aware of," Goatley said. "But definitely don't plan on any Oklahoma-style monster tornadoes."

Instead, Goatley said Wyoming weather demands respect because of its variety.

"Wyoming's weather is wild and wonderful," he said. "You get a little bit of everything. If you're bored of one season, just wait for the next."

Storm clouds over cheyenne 6 26 26

For much of the week, the southeast corner of Wyoming had a series of tornado watches and warnings. While tornadoes grab the headlines, residents know the real menace is monster hail. "We're where the storms like to start," said meteorologist Colby Goatley.

Steve Inman: Thursday, April 16, 2026

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