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

<title>Daily Cartoon 2: Saturday, April 18, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Cartoon 2: Saturday, April 18, 2026

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

State Sen. Eric Barlow released poll results Tuesday showing him with a sizable lead over other Republican candidates in the race for Wyoming governor.

[{"type":"text","text":"Two of his opponents doubt that outcome. One of them doesn’t."}]

Barlow, a legislator of 13 years and former House speaker, is running for the Republican nomination against Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, retired Marine Col. Brent Bien, and Centennial man Curt Blake.

His campaign released polling results Tuesday showing him at 42% support, followed by Degenfelder at 19% and Bien at 14% — with 22% undecided — when people were asked who they would vote for if the election were held today.

The poll was taken in the past three days by the Pulse Decision Science firm, the campaign says.

“Barlow has gained 10 points since the campaign’s previous survey and his net favorability has climbed from +19 to +34,” says a Tuesday statement by his campaign. “This comes even as he has been outspent more than 5-to-1 by Degenfelder and the outside groups supporting her.”

Barlow said he’s taken six full trips through all 23 Wyoming counties and is starting his seventh statewide tour.

[{"type":"text","text":"The primary election is set for Aug. 18."}]

“We believed from the beginning that if we showed up, listened and stayed focused on Wyoming, voters would respond,” Barlow said. “This poll is encouraging, but it does not change how we campaign.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"We will keep showing up, keep listening and keep earning every vote.\""}]

Barlow told Cowboy State Daily in a Tuesday-evening phone call that he trusts the polling, and its cross-tabulation veracity checks. He said Wyomingites' reception of him on the campaign trail is also "quite encouraging." 

His campaign has amassed 2,500 volunteers and contributions from nearly 2,000 individual Wyoming donors, with more than $1 million raised from in-state individuals, the statement says.

The statement says Barlow has focused his campaign on expanding economic opportunity, improving access to rural health care, strengthening Wyoming’s energy and agriculture industries, addressing housing challenges, keeping decisions local and keeping the state's public lands accessible to Wyomingites. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Nah, Says Degenfelder"}]

Degenfelder’s campaign manager Charlotte Jones emphasized that Barlow’s numbers are from his own campaign.

“Voters should take the Barlow campaign’s internal ‘polling’ numbers with a heavy grain of salt, which come as no surprise from the campaign of a career politician desperately trying to run from his record of opposing Wyoming Industries and Wyoming values,” wrote Jones in a Tuesday email. 

“Megan’s campaign is focused on talking to voters about the issues they care about and highlighting her record as the only candidate in the race with a proven record fighting for our mineral industries, and defending women’s sports and parental rights," wrote Jones, "which is why she has earned the support of Donald Trump and Harriet Hageman.”

Trump endorsed Degenfelder in January before she entered the race, and doubled down with a 

U.S. House Rep. Harriet Hageman, who’s running for U.S. Senate, has endorsed Degenfelder and campaigned with her in multiple locations.

[{"type":"text","text":"Not Doing That"}]

The Wyoming Republican Party Central Committee broke tradition Monday night and 

One delegate, Weston County GOP Chair Kari Drost, asked the committee to consider endorsing Degenfelder as well, but the committee cast a majority vote to end the process instead.

The Central Committee considered, but voted against, adopting an official position opposing Barlow.

Bien is not doing polling, says a Tuesday email from his campaign associate Cheryl Aguiar. She called his campaign a grassroots effort.

“As someone who taught statistics to graduate students, I would have all sorts of questions on methodology, sample size, randomness, question wording, and other aspects mainly founded in ‘who paid for the poll?’” she said.

The landline and cellphone call poll was taken from 400 likely Republican primary election voters and with a margin of error of 4.9%, according to the Barlow campaign.

The main prompt asks, “If the Republican Primary election for Wyoming Governor were held today, for whom would you vote?”

Respondents could give answers in three categories for each of the four candidates. For example, for Barlow they could choose “Definitely Barlow,” “Probably Barlow,” or “Lean Barlow.”

[{"type":"text","text":"They could also choose different variations of undecided.  "}]

“Since we don't have the poll's methodology, I would say that this poll is obviously being released by a campaign, so we would advise voters to evaluate it accordingly,” wrote Aguiar. “Our campaign is more interested in what we're hearing from Wyoming  citizens at town halls and community events across the state.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Aguiar said campaigns release internal polling “to tell a story.”"}]

“We respect that. Our campaign is focused, though, on earning votes, not headlines,” wrote Aguiar, adding that no one appears to have gathered 50% of voters and the race has room for “a lot of movement.”

A political action group (PAC) called Women For Responsible Government Action has run multiple attack ads against Barlow, and favorable ads supporting Degenfelder in recent weeks.

This PAC bears a similar name to one linked to Hageman’s campaign for U.S. Senate, “Women for Responsible Government PAC.”

But the group launching TV ads against Barlow is a 501(c)4 issue group run by Hageman’s allies, not Hageman, according to a Thursday text message from Hageman’s campaign advisor Tim Murtaugh.

Murtaugh said Hageman does not control the TV-ad-buying PAC, but it “often aligns with her views, including protecting Wyoming’s children from permanent genital mutilation and preventing coercive gender identity education for kindergarteners.”

Jones said Thursday on Degenfelder’s behalf that the superintendent isn’t aligned with either the action PAC or the PAC funding Hageman’s Senate run.

"Megan is not involved with either organization, and her campaign is not permitted to coordinate with either of them,” wrote Jones. “She is focused on her own campaign and her positive message of making Wyoming more affordable, growing our legacy industries and protecting Wyoming values."

The PAC has run ads touting Degenfelder as a “strong leader” who has stood with Trump, fought for school choice, getting “pornography out of our libraries” and keeping men out of girls’ sports.

Degenfelder has not worked as a legislator and has passed no laws toward those goals. She has backed legislation toward those ends, however.

Soon after she became superintendent she 

 sexually-explicit books out of school libraries. That issue had 

The attack ads lend credibility to Barlow’s favorable poll results, longtime politico and former Assistant Interior Secretary Rob Wallace told Cowboy State Daily in a Tuesday phone interview.

“The fact that Eric has been attacked so hard the last two-to-three weeks tells me the opposition knows that these poll numbers are valid, or similar,” said Wallace. 

He clarified, saying that with “dark money” or independent PACs, people generally don’t know who’s behind them.

Wallace also said it wouldn’t serve Barlow to dispatch bad poll numbers at this phase of the race.

[{"type":"text","text":"Barlow emphasized the ads and the PAC money behind some of them as well."}]

“Eric Barlow is winning this race and pulling away while taking five times more in hostile media spending than any other candidate,” says a Tuesday statement by his campaign.

The statement says Barlow’s campaign team has spent $80,688 on radio and TV ads – about $10,200 more than Degenfelder.

But Women for Responsible Government Action has spent $202,265 and Wyoming’s Turn PAC has spent $149,815 on TV, cable and satellite messaging either backing Degenfelder or opposing Barlow, the statement says.

“The outside groups are blanketing every media market with lies about Eric Barlow’s record reaching Wyoming, Denver, Salt Lake, Idaho Falls, and Rapid City cable zones,” the statement says, “while Barlow has held a disciplined broadcast and radio footprint.”

The statement asserts that “out-of-state dark money is not moving the race; it is hurting Degenfelder and hardening support in Barlow's favor.”

[{"type":"text","text":"What He Actually Voted For"}]

One of the PAC’s ads claims that Barlow voted to allow sexual orientation and gender identity to be taught to kindergarteners and to allow sex change procedures “to be done on kids.”

[{"type":"text","text":"The record tells a different story."}]

Barlow voted against the 2023 Senate File 111, which would have criminalized parents and doctors for their roles in transitioning children’s genders medically.

, calling the bill’s definitions ill suited for its purpose.

Barlow had nothing but praise for the 2023 bill Chloe’s Law, however, and voted in favor of it. The bill sought to strip violating medical professionals of their licenses.

[{"type":"text","text":"“This bill I find to be very precise,” said Barlow at the time."}]

The House Appropriations Committee killed Chloe’s Law that year after the Senate voted 26-5 in its favor. But a later version of it became law in 2024 — with Barlow voting aye once again.

"I absolutely believe minors need to be protected form physically altering surgeries, period," Barlow said Tuesday. He noted that the bill has exemptions allowing treatments for kids with intersex designations or conditions, and puberty blockers for kids with precocious puberty. 

Barlow had, as the ad notes in a subtext, voted against the 2023 

. It sought to ban teaching of gender ideology to public-school kids in grades through kindergarten through third grade.

But Barlow voted in favor of that bill’s 2024 successor, 

The sequel legislation bans schools from teaching sexual orientation or gender identity without prior permission, and compels schools to notify parents if their children experience psychological changes, which may include a newly-voiced transgender identity. 

He told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that the 2024 bill was simply written better. 

"I read the bills, right," said Barlow. "Read the bills. Not just who it protects but how it protects them."

The 2024 bill was "a much stronger bill and much more protective of Wyoming kids, which they deserve," he said. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Not Surprised At All"}]

Blake hasn’t built the name recognition of the other three candidates and in a Tuesday phone call, and said he was unsurprised to find his name left out of the Barlow campaign’s announcement.

Blake is running as a “purple” Republican, and said he’d love to keep Wyoming as it is. He cast himself as pragmatic.

“I think a poll can say whatever you want it to say,” said Blake. “With that being said, it wouldn’t surprise me if Eric is in the lead. He’s a damn good guy.”

Eric barlow 7 21 26

<title>Barlow Campaign Releases Poll Claiming Big Lead Over Degenfelder And Bien | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Eric Barlow gubernatorial campaign released an internal poll Tuesday showing a significant lead over both Megan Degenfelder and Brent Bien. According to his internal polling numbers, 42% of voters support Barlow while Degenfelder is at 19% and Bien at 14%.

Barlow Campaign Releases Poll Claiming Big Lead Over Degenfelder And Bien

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

Andrew Rossi

Outdoors

Public Lands

A tourist caught on video climbing on top of one of the iconic buildings in Grand Teton National Park not only broke the law, he disrespected “my family’s heritage,” said the grandson of Thomas Alva Moulton, who along with brother John Moulton, built the most famous homesteads on Mormon Row.

. A man climbed to the top of one of the historic structures adjacent to the pink house on the John Moulton Ranch.

“A tourist climbed onto the roof of one of the historic buildings just to take photos,” she said, but she didn’t say whether the man had been reported to park rangers.

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da00gdXO94z/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da00gdXO94z/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; 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[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"My Family’s Heritage"}]

While the Moulton family no longer owns the historic structures, they still have a deep connection to their homesteads in the Teton Valley.

Steve Moulton is the grandson of T.A. Moulton, who built 

of the still-standing structures on Mormon Row and one of the most photographed barns in the world.

“My grandfather built the T.A. barn way back in the early 1900s,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “My dad helped build it and worked on it over the years. I have worked on it myself. I've been on the roof of the T.A. barn because we were putting a new roof on it.”

Moulton admitted that he climbed all over the T.A. Moulton Barn as a child, but that was when it was his family’s property.

The 1-acre parcel with the T.A. Moulton Barn was sold to the National Park Service in 2018, making it the last privately owned real estate on Mormon Row to be folded into Grand Teton National Park.

“I’m associated with the T.A. Moulton Barn, but that doesn't mean that I want to see anything going on down at the John Moulton Barn either,” Steve said. “It’s my family's heritage.”

omeone clambering over the historic building, especially since there’s been such an effort to ensure the remaining structures at Mormon Row remain standing.

“It's clear that there are people in this world who have no respect for public property,” he said. “To keep them in good condition, we have to take care of them, because yes, they are fragile.”

Grand Teton officials "are aware of the video" and warn that "climbing on historic structures can cause irreversible damage," said park spokesperson Emily Davis in a statement to Cowboy State Daily.

“At Mormon Row, visitors come to experience a remarkable historic landscape,” she added. “When someone disregards the rules and climbs on these structures, it detracts from that shared experience and puts an irreplaceable piece of our nation's history at risk.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Loved To Death"}]

Most people who visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks from around the world don’t have destructive intentions. They just want to take in the beauty of the landscape, like millions of others.

[{"type":"text","text":"That, however, can be part of the problem."}]

As visitation to national parks increases, one commonly heard concern is that they’re “

” The reason is that higher densities of tourists are, intentionally or unintentionally, causing more destruction and disturbance to the natural vistas that drew people there in the first place.

“We ask all visitors to help preserve historic buildings by viewing them from designated areas and not climbing on or entering the structures,” Davis said. “Historic buildings can be more fragile than they appear, and even what might seem like minor actions can contribute to the buildings' deterioration over time.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Steve shares some of that concern. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"As Mormon Row has become more popular, the impact on the area is evident."}]

“What bothers me is there's so much foot traffic around the T.A. Barn,” he said. “The pictures used to have green grass in front of the barn. Now, it's just dirt because there is so much traffic.”

 at Mormon Row is underway. Jenkins has said it was part of several “micro-geographic” efforts to improve popular spots in the park for a better overall visitor experience.

“We want to be able to host more visitation at Mormon Row, so we're looking at things we can be doing to help manage that visitation,” he told Cowboy State Daily in May.

The list of desired site improvements includes a larger, centralized parking lot, new interpretive and wayfinding signs, distinct walking paths, and furnishings like benches and trash cans, new restrooms, and a 0.75-mile trail extension connecting Mormon Trail Road to Antelope Flats Road.

“Construction started at Mormon Row earlier this month,” Davis said. “Site improvements there are part of a multi-phase project to improve accessibility and the visitor experience while protecting the site's historic character.”

These improvements will go hand-in-hand with an ecological restoration of Mormon Row. 

Native vegetation will be planted and damaged areas restored, and the new parking lot will be built further away from the historic homesteads to ensure the landscape and views remain as pristine as possible.

they’d help to mitigate the damage of visitor traffic. However, that doesn’t eliminate the damage caused by reckless tourists who are determined to do their own thing to the detriment of the park and its visitors.

“We want (Mormon Row) to last many more decades, so we have to be really careful with anything that goes on around them, as far as touching, climbing, or taking stuff off them for souvenirs,” he said.

Many people value the serenity of Mormon Row and the Moulton barns as much as the Moulton family itself. Steve hopes that will lead to better decisions and increased awareness.

“I want visitors to understand their historical importance,” he said. “I want them to have the same feelings as my family does about preserving the integrity of those structures, so we have to take great care to not do anything that will be destructive to them.”

Climing on Moulton building 1 7 21 26

<title>Grand Teton Tourist Caught Illegally Climbing On Famous Mormon Row Building | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A tourist caught on video climbing one of the famous Mormon Row buildings in Grand Teton Park broke the law and disrespected “my family’s heritage,” said the grandson of T.A. Moulton who, along with his brother, built the most park's famous homesteads.

Grand Teton Tourist Caught Illegally Climbing On Famous Mormon Row Building

Wyoming Life

spotted again, roaming the Bighorn Mountains.

Many people enjoying Independence Day weekend saw the fuzzy green bipedal cryptid wandering through forests and along popular hiking trails near Burgess Junction. Just as soon as it reappeared, it disappeared.

[{"type":"text","text":"Where did the Swamp Moose go? Back to Cheyenne with his family."}]

The Swamp Moose is actually Bridger Knox, 9, who was enjoying the annual family vacation to the Bighorns. Bridger and his father, Steve, decided to resurrect the monster for another year because they had so much fun last year.

“How could we not? The post went viral, and Bridger loved and had so much fun with it, so we did two days of shenanigans with the Swamp Moose,” Steve Knox told Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Rise Of The Swamp Moose"}]

The Swamp Moose was a spontaneous idea that spawned from a green ghillie suit the Knox Family brought with them during their annual camping trip in the Bighorns in 2025.

“We’ve been camping at that same area for two weeks around the Fourth of July for 30-plus years,” Knox said. “My sister-in-law and her kids wanted to scare her husband near the river with the ghillie suit, and we wondered what the tour buses (on U.S. Highway 14) would do if they saw someone walking around in a ghillie suit.”

The Swamp Moose first emerged from the Pine Island Group Campground. The shed moose antler, found by Bridger, was the extra ingredient that made it that much more fun.

As soon as the Swamp Moose was spotted, it was turning heads and stopping cars.

“Cars coming down the highway were noticing Bridger and slamming on their brakes,” Knox said. “We could see their faces in their vehicles, wondering what in the world they were looking at.”

When Knox shared photos and videos on social media, the Swamp Moose went viral. After last year’s outing, a newspaper in New York called Knox to share the story.

[{"type":"text","text":"With all that attention, the Swamp Moose’s return was inevitable."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Revenge Of The Swamp Moose"}]

When the Knox Family returned to the Bighorns in 2026, the Swamp Moose came with them. Bridger donned the same green ghillie suit with a slightly smaller antler.

“The other one was too big and made his arms tired, so we used a different one,” Knox said.

This year, the Knox family camped near Porcupine Falls, west of Burgess Junction and farther from the highway than the Pine Island Group Campground.

That reduced the potential visibility of the Swamp Moose’s mysterious return, but that didn’t dissuade Bridger. He got ghillied up and began to roam around Porcupine Falls.

“He walked up and down the road a little bit, right there by our campground, and stood by the sign,” Knox said. “Porcupine Falls is a much less trafficked area, so he couldn't get that tour bus exposure, but it was still super awesome.”

Still, Bridger had higher aspirations for the Swamp Moose. When a perfect opportunity suddenly presented itself, he fully grabbed the Swamp Moose by the antler.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Swamp Moose Strikes Back"}]

Steve and Bridger were hiking up to Porcupine Falls. That’s when they encountered more than 40 people heading for the same destination.

This was the moment Bridger had been waiting for. He and his father sped past the church group to reach Porcupine Falls before they did.

When the group arrived at the picturesque falls, they were under the watchful eyes of the elusive Swamp Moose.

“Bridger wanted to go stand up on top of the rock and let everybody see him from a different view,” Knox said. “He and I hiked to the top of the hill, he changed into his outfit and emerged from the rocks.”

The Swamp Moose silently moved through the large hiking group. Reactions were mixed.

“Some ignored him, others laughed and pointed, and some took pictures,” Knox said. “It was pretty funny.”

That wasn’t enough for one hiker, a man from Sheridan who knew the lore of the Swamp Moose. That’s when Knox said his son had “his 15 minutes of fame.”

“The Sheridan gentlemen asked if the Swamp Moose talked,” he said. “I said, ‘Of course,’ and we sat and chatted with his family for a little while. One of the gals remembered his story from last year, and Bridger thought that was pretty cool.”

The coup de grâce of the Porcupine Falls sighting was an utterly baffled couple from Mississippi.

“They saw us walking with Porcupine Falls with the antler, which they were curious about, but when they saw Bridger in the suit, they didn't know what the heck was going on.”

After an eventful and entertaining day, the Swamp Moose spent the evening being chased around the campsite.

“The camp host thought it was pretty clever,” Knox said. "We had a good time, and it was pretty funny.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Return Of The Swamp Moose"}]

The Knox family has returned to Cheyenne, which means the Swamp Moose has disappeared once again. The cryptid likely won’t re-emerge until Bridger gets back to the Bighorns.

“It’s become part of our long-standing family tradition, but only there,” Knox said. “The ghillie suit was put away when we got home last year and didn't come out again until this year.”

What Knox finds intriguing is how much of an impact their spontaneous prank has had on the area. He was informed that the story of the Swamp Moose has been enshrined near the spot where it was first sighted.

“The Cowboy State Daily story from last year was printed and hung in a display case at the Burgess Junction Visitor Center,” he said. “Someone sent us a photo of it last summer, and every time somebody stops in, they tell us it’s still there.”

Knox credits the strange success of the Swamp Moose to his son’s “great sense of humor.” As long as Bridger wants to walk through the wilderness in a ghillie suit with a moose antler over his head, Knox expects to continue sharing the story of the celebrity Swamp Moose.

“I'd imagine you'll see the Swamp Moose back for the next couple of years, at least,” he said.

Swamp moose IMG 9496 7 11 26

<title>9-Year-Old Wyoming Boy Dresses Up As A 'Swamp Moose' Just To Confuse Tourists | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 9-year-old boy from Cheyenne dressed up in a ghillie suit with a lone moose antler sticking out of his head for the sole purpose of confusing hikers near Porcupine Falls in the Bighorn Mountains. He is proud to report it worked.

9-Year-Old Wyoming Boy Dresses Up As A 'Swamp Moose' Just To Confuse Tourists

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Dale Killingbeck

Dale Killingbeck

Around Wyoming

For a man in the 1950s, the little 10-by-13-foot wooden jail house in Kaycee, Wyoming, that held some of the West’s most notorious outlaws proved to be an escape from the law.

In the jail was the last place he figured anyone would look for someone trying not to get caught.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"It was not always that way."}]

Laurel Foster, director of the Hoofprints of the Past Museum in Kaycee, said the wooden jail that served the area well during the years of the Hole-in-The-Wall Gang and and other Western outlaws was built to keep the bad guys from breaking out.

The jail now sits behind the museum next to a wooden schoolhouse that once served as Johnson County Deputy Sheriff Leonard Beard’s home. 

It was Beard who who enforced the law there from the late 1890s until his resignation halfway into the next century.

“He was known as being a very tough character and very good at his job,” Foster said. “He actually chased down a lot of rough outlaws. He captured some of them. 

"Tom O’Day was one of them he chased in pursuit (as well as) Kid Curry.”

The jail was built with 41 layers of 2-by-6-inch boards that were laid flat to make up the walls of a jail that was outlaw resistant from the inside and out due to knives or other instruments trying to whittle holes in the building.

Foster, a native of Kaycee, said the jail would have been used to house more significant prisoners for a short time before they could be transported to the Johnson County jail in Buffalo.

The interior of the jail has a hole in the ceiling for a stove and the museum now displays it with a small bed to one side.

Foster said Beard used five kegs of nails to put together his jail.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Full House"}]

According to local historian J. Elmer Brock who collected oral histories and other material that was part of the 1982 book “Our Powder River Heritage," the little jail on one occasion was filled to capacity.

“He wrote that at one time there were 13 people thrown in there after they were drinking too much and being too rowdy,” Foster said, noting how small the tiny jailhouse was. “The last one was thrown on top.”

In his account of Leonard, Brock, who lived and ranched in the area during Leonard’s tenure, called the deputy “a man with unlimited courage.”

He dealt with Hole-In-The-Wall outlaws and others when the growing community, businesses were starting — and recovering from the impact of the 

Brock wrote of Leonard arresting a man named Razor Dick Hale who had a $1,000 bounty on his head. 

The lawman shot the outlaw’s horse and Hale in the arm. The outlaw never made it to the jail because while trying to get a vehicle to transport the wounded prisoner, he escaped.

The Natrona County Tribune on Sept. 11, 1902, reported about Johnson County Sheriff Kennedy returning from a chase after Hale.

“Mr. Kennedy has a close call in Powder River canyon being kicked by a horse, thrown down and being rolled over by another horse until he saw stars by the millions,” the newspaper reported.

Beard also chased Wild Bunch outlaws associated with the Wilcox train robbery in 1899, getting in a shootout that left one outlaw wounded as well as Beard’s horse.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Stolen Horses"}]

The 125-year-old jail in Kaycee, Wyoming, once housed outlaws from the Wild Bunch era It was also where a thief hid from the law for several days. In the jail was the last place he figured anyone would look for someone trying not to get caught.

Daily Cartoon 2: Saturday, April 18, 2026

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