An abandoned saloon east of Casper has become the center of an unusual dispute over profane political messages, private property and a school bus stop where rural children are picked up and dropped off each day.
For months, the weathered Lazy 8 along U.S. Highway 20/26 has been splashed with messages attacking President Donald Trump and the Wyoming Republican Party, some in letters large enough to be read by passing motorists.
One message painted across a metal door was more direct: “KILL THE RICH.” Another, scrawled in red, spelled out "TRUMP IS A RUSSIAN D*** SUCKER" and yet another, "WYO GOP SCREWS US IN THE ASS."
Parents who use the Lazy 8 as a school bus stop say the writing is only part of their concern.
One mother told Cowboy State Daily about confrontations with a man associated with the property, while Natrona County employee Lori Hall said there have been problems with piles of tree limbs blocking access.
The Natrona County Sheriff's Office, meanwhile, is investigating an Oct. 1 report of graffiti at the property and trying to determine who has legal authority over it.
By Monday afternoon, however, someone was already changing the message.
White Paint
Shortly before 4 p.m., two men stood outside the Lazy 8 with brushes and a can of white paint, covering portions of the profanity that had turned the old saloon into a vulgar roadside political billboard.
One of the men claimed to own the property but declined to give his name, describing himself to Cowboy State Daily only as “just a mysterious-type Wyoming person.”
He defended his right to express his opinions. The other man said they weren't removing the political messages altogether, but were trying to make them less vulgar after receiving complaints.
"Ass isn't even that bad," he said, but by then had already covered it up.
A few minutes later, Hall, who works for Natrona County Development, pulled into the property in a white county SUV and asked the men for the owner.
Neither answered her. The men wandered away and out of sight, and Hall, concerned about remaining on private property without permission, soon left as well.
Before she did, Hall told Cowboy State Daily she has been concerned about messages at the Lazy 8 since first noticing writing there in the spring.
She acknowledged the complication at the center of the whole affair: A property owner has a right to express political opinions.
Her concern is that those opinions — including the profane ones — are displayed at a place where children and the public drive by every day.
Hall said the writing also isn't the only source of friction.
A heap of cut limbs was still there, shoved off the driving area and toward the old saloon, but the limbs were not blocking access Monday afternoon.
School Bus Arrives
By 4:15 p.m., the October sun was casting the narrow, repeating shadows of the Lazy 8's long wooden awning across the building.
Paint peeled from the ochre-colored siding, weeds pushed up around the white railing and the faded Lazy 8 Saloon sign looked like a watchful eye from above.
Then a yellow school bus came around the building.
It pulled alongside the old saloon, within view of the political messages, and children streamed out toward the cars and SUVs where parents were waiting. One child broke from the group and headed up an old dirt ranch road.
For the families who use the stop, the scene has become part of the ordinary rhythm of getting their children to and from school.
One mother waiting Monday, who declined to give her name, shrugged when asked about the messages.
“It is what it is,” she said.
She wasn't particularly bothered by them, although she acknowledged the colorful language had become part of the scenery her family encounters during the normal pickup and drop-off routine.
Ashley Andreen is more concerned about what has happened around the stop than what is written on the building.
Her nearly 15-year-old son catches the bus there, and Andreen said she drives him to the Lazy 8 most mornings and doesn't leave until she sees him physically get aboard.
She doesn't remember the political messages being there at the end of the previous school year. When school resumed in August, she said, they were there.
Her greater concern has been encounters between families using the stop and a man she believes is associated with the property.
Andreen described one incident when her daughter went to the Lazy 8 to wait for her brother. She said a man came out yelling that people needed to get off his property and that the location was no longer a public bus stop.
Andreen was concerned enough that she gave her daughter simple instructions over the phone.
“Roll up the windows, lock the doors,” she said.
She said other parents have confronted the man over his behavior and that after one dispute, logs or tree limbs were placed around the parking area and a trailer blocked one entrance.
Andreen said she has repeatedly raised her concerns with school transportation officials.
Districts Mum
Converse County School District No. 2 Transportation Director Ian Moter declined to comment when contacted by Cowboy State Daily.
Cowboy State Daily also contacted Natrona County School District's Transportation Department and public relations office seeking information about its use of the Lazy 8, whether the district has permission to use the property and whether officials have received complaints about access or interactions there.
The district did not respond before publication.
The Natrona County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman said they have "received a call for service at 13720 E. Highway 20/26 on Oct. 1 regarding a report of graffiti."
“The matter remains under investigation while deputies work to identify and contact the property owner or other individual with legal authority over the property," the spokeswoman said.
Natrona County assessor records date the Lazy 8's 2,000-square-foot cocktail lounge to 1976. For years, it was one of those out-of-the-way Wyoming bars where beer, music and neighbors could fill the small building.
By 2017, Natrona County Board of Health records identified Linda Henderson as the owner of the bar. Henderson, who died in 2023 at age 71, also owned Casper's Sage and Sand Motel.
Her obituary described a fiercely independent businesswoman who called herself “The Boss,” worked hard and opened her businesses during the holidays to people who needed a meal or somewhere to go.
The county assessor's records now offer the following description of the Lazy 8: A roughly 50-year-old cocktail lounge and a small equipment shed sitting on just under 2 acres.
The commercial parcel at 13720 E. U.S. Highway 20/26 is owned by the Henderson Irrevocable Trust, county property records show. The assessor lists Stewart Harwood as the trust's contact and directs correspondence for him to the Lazy 8 address.
'HEAL THE RICH'
The Lazy 8 is one of the first stops on a long rural school bus route connecting the country between Casper and Glenrock with Converse County School District No. 2.
The route begins at the Glenrock bus garage before 6:30 a.m., reaches the Lazy 8 around 6:50 a.m. and eventually delivers students to Glenrock Middle School, Glenrock High School, Glenrock Intermediate School and Grant Elementary.
By afternoon, that journey runs in reverse. Only a handful of children got off at the Lazy 8 on Monday.
The two painters told Cowboy State Daily they intended to soften one message in particular.
Instead of “KILL THE RICH,” they said, it would read “HEAL THE RICH," an idea they came with on the spot. Both nodded in agreement that it would be a good amendment.
They started making changes Monday afternoon and had so far painted over the "K" before leaving the scene.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
