One More For The Road

Andrew Rossi's excitement to get to Monday's Cowboy State Daily news meeting is derailed by his impatience.....

One more for 5 25 26

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

<title>One More For The Road: Monday, May 25, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

One More For The Road: Monday, May 25, 2026

 Andrew Rossi's excitement to get to Monday's Cowboy State Daily news meeting is derailed by his impatience.....

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

Greg Johnson

Outdoors

Public Lands

After getting bookended by a pair of wildfires that prompted the closure of Devils Tower over the weekend, the national monument reopened again to the public Monday — albeit on a limited basis.

While Devils Tower is open, the hiking trails around the tower and throughout the monument remain closed as crews continue to battle a pair of nearby fires, one just southwest of the monument’s boundary and another southeast.

“We were able to open it up this morning, but as of today, the hiking trails in the backcountry are closed,” said Dustin Sene, Powder River Group superintendent for the National Park Service.

“We’re hoping to get those back up as soon as possible,” he added. “I’m glad we were able to get it open today.”

While the trails remain off limits because of the fires burning nearby, Sene said that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do at Devils Tower other than stand there and look at it.

“You can still come in, drive the roads, and the visitors center and bookstore are open,” he said.

Asked if climbing the tower is still off-limits, he answered, “Oh yes, that’s affirm.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Another Fire"}]

Wyoming State Forestry, NPS and firefighting officials had contemplated discussing reopening Devils Tower on Sunday afternoon after the 282-acre 

 on the southwest border of the monument was started Friday.

That didn’t happen, however, with the discovery Sunday afternoon of the now-300-acre 

 just southeast of Devils Tower and just east of Wyoming Highway 24.

With progress on the Left Creek Fire, fire managers were able to divert resources to the Newton Fire quickly, which has kept it relatively in check for the past 12 hour or so, Sene said.

“Boy, they did get there quick, and so did the air resources,” he told Cowboy State Daily on Monday. “It’s nice we had these resources here at the park already.

“If there was a time to have a second fire, this was it. I’m just really impressed with the local fire folks here.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Really Scary’"}]

The National Interagency Fire Center reports that the Left Creek Fire hasn’t grown since Saturday, and now is 25% contained.

The Newton Fire isn’t reporting any containment; however, it also hasn’t shown much growth overnight and a previous order putting area residents at “set” status to evacuate has been lifted.

Highway 24 also had been closed for a time Sunday south of Devils Tower, but has since reopened.

While both fires seem to be going well for the wildland firefighting crews working them, it was “really scary” when the Left Creek Fire was discovered, said state Sen. Ogden Driskill.

The fire, believed to have been started by lightning, is on the fence line of his property — and it’s land the ranch depends on.

“It was really scary, because that’s some of the grass we depend on in the fall and winter,” he told Cowboy State Daily on Sunday morning while meeting with state and National Park Service officials.

“In my opinion, it without a doubt could’ve been a 5,000-acre-plus fire — or more,” Driskill said, adding that quick and precise work from the more than 100 firefighters on the scene have kept the wildfire in check.

“We literally watched helicopters put out crown fires all day long,” he said. “They kept it in the original line all day long (Saturday), and the ground crews kept it from spreading on the ground.”

That work has kept the fire at an estimated 282 acres, said Dick Terry, district forester for Wyoming State Forestry.

While he wouldn’t say the fire is contained, he said he’s confident it’s basically under control.

“We’ve got fire line around most of it, but it’s indirect,” he said. “It’s still small and not contained just because we’ve got the east side with a shaky line until we get a little bit of a handle on that.”

The fire has so far also stayed outside the boundary of the national monument, Terry said.

“I would assume it’s lightning,” he added about the suspected cause of the fire. “But, I haven’t seen the start of it yet. But it’s 99% sure it’s lightning.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Newton Fire, And Another One"}]

The Newton Fire was discovered at about 1:15 p.m. Sunday, and had grown to an estimated 200 acres in a couple of hours, the National Interagency Fire Center and Crook County Emergency Management report.

Asked later Sunday for an update on the wildfire situation around Devils Tower — which has closed the monument for much of Saturday and all of Sunday — county Emergency Management Coordinator Ed Robinson was blunt.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It sucks,” he said."}]

“We get one fire almost contained, and then we’re fighting another one now, too,” he told Cowboy State Daily from the scene of the Newton Fire on Sunday.

The Left Creek and Newton fires aren’t the only serious wildfire being fought in northern Wyoming.

Two counties to the east, a Wyoming Type 3 incident management team was called in to help fight a fire in the Clearmont area of Sheridan County, which has ballooned to more than 7,200 acres since it was started by lightning on Friday, according to the Type 3 team.

“A lightning storm moved across the region starting multiple fires north of Clearmont, Wyoming, in Sheridan County,” according to a report from the Type 3 team and its commander, Jon Warder.

“Weather and fuel conditions led to the fire quickly growing in size,” the report says. “While structures were threatened, none have been lost so far.”

The NIFC reports the Lumin Fire is about 50% contained, and that terrain and fuels are making the wildfire difficult to fight.

While he was at the Devils Tower site Sunday, Terry said he also had been checking in on the Lumin Fire.

Crews there have made considerable progress on getting more control and protecting buildings in the area, he said.

“It kind of sounded like they got some burnouts completed and, hopefully, they’ll be winding down on that,” he said.

Devils Tower Fire Jennifer Pierson via Crook County Fire 8 3 26

<title>‘Really Scary’: Devils Tower Reopens As Two Wildfires Burn Nearby | Cowboy State Daily</title>

After getting bookended by a pair of wildfires that prompted the closure of Devils Tower over the weekend, it reopened again Monday as the fires continue to burn. “It was really scary,” said Ogden Driskill, whose ranch is impacted.

‘Really Scary’: Devils Tower Reopens As Two Wildfires Burn Nearby

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Public Safety

Inside Rawlins Family Church on Sunday afternoon, worshippers paused when the sound of blaring sirens rushed toward East State Street. 

[{"type":"text","text":"No one inside knew exactly what had happened."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"But Michelle Greer said she knew it was serious."}]

"We started hearing police cars," Greer told Cowboy State Daily. "Then I stepped outside."

Emergency vehicles from surrounded the intersection where a small bicycle lay twisted on the pavement. Nearby, a black tarp answered everyone's immediate question. 

"I was devastated," Greer said. "I work at the school, and I knew it was one of our kids. My heart was just so broken all day yesterday. I just couldn't even really function." 

The Rawlins Police Department confirmed an 8-year-old boy died Sunday after a collision involving a bicycle and a vehicle around 12:21 p.m. near East State Street and Jefferson Avenue. 

Officers from the Rawlins Fire Department, Carbon County Sheriff's Office, Carbon County EMS and the Wyoming Highway Patrol also responded.

A preliminary Wyoming Highway Patrol report says the boy was riding north on Jefferson Street when he possibly failed to stop at a posted stop sign before entering the intersection with East State Street. A Ram 2500 traveling east on State Street struck the child.

Investigators reported the roads were dry, the weather was clear, and the pickup driver was not injured. 

The crash remains under investigation and authorities have not released additional details.

For Greer, the facts mattered less in the immediate aftermath than the overwhelming sense of loss.

[{"type":"text","text":"As emergency crews worked, people gathered quietly nearby."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"They were coming down. They were standing on the street,\" she said. "}]

Roads around the scene were blocked for hours while investigators documented what happened. 

[{"type":"text","text":"'Happy-Go-Lucky' "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The crash happened in an area where children are a common sight."}]

"State Street is pretty busy," Greer said. "Jefferson is not, but there's a park right behind our church, so there's always kids at the park." 

Only a week earlier, Greer had watched neighborhood children laughing together during a family event at that same spot.

[{"type":"text","text":"The child who died was among them. "}]

"He was there all day playing with all the kids," she recalled. "He was just happy-go-lucky, and he just had a great time the whole day." 

[{"type":"text","text":"That memory has replayed in her mind ever since."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"'We're Praying For Them'"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Greer is also a mother."}]

Her daughter recently turned 18, and her son is 30. She said thinking about the victim's parents has been almost unbearable.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Oh my gosh,\" she said. \"I can't even imagine that phone call.\" "}]

She said members of Rawlins Family Church are praying for the family and want them to know they are ready to help however they can.

"Our hearts go out to them," she said. "We're praying for them, and our church is there if they need any help or counseling." 

As police continue investigating what led to Sunday's tragedy, Greer hopes at least one lesson reaches other families.

Watching children ride bicycles and scooters through town has always made her nervous.

[{"type":"text","text":"Now, she says, it carries a different weight."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It can be gone so fast,\" she said. "}]

Rawlins 20240525 rawlins 1104 4 18 26 1

<title>Rawlins Boy, 8, Dies When Hit By Truck While Riding Bicycle Outside Of Church | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Rawlins churchgoer says her "heart was just so broken" after worshippers stepped outside of Sunday service to find remnants of a bicycle crash that killed an 8-year-old boy. "I work at the school, and I knew it was one of our kids," she said.

Rawlins Boy, 8, Dies When Hit By Truck While Riding Bicycle Outside Of Church

Kerry Drake

Wyoming Life

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Renée Jean

Business & Tourism

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

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

Fortunately for Tope, the cavalry is coming. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sundance has also made its mark with the 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One More For The Road: Monday, May 25, 2026

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