Candy Moulton
Candy Moulton has written 17 Western history books; co-edited a collection of short fiction and a two-volume encyclopedia; and written and produced several documentary films. She has four Spur Awards, plus many other awards from historical societies, museum associations, and press associations.
During her career of more than 50 years she has edited a weekly newspaper, two magazines, and is a past executive director of Western Writers of America.
Her passions are history, travel, and writing…all of which will be subjects for future articles for Cowboy State Daily
Candy's roots are deep in the Encampment area where she was reared on a ranch. She still lives in that same neighborhood with her husband Steve.
Latest from Candy Moulton
The American West: Northern Boundary Survey
When ordered to make a winter survey in 1873, Second Lieutenant Francis Vinton Greene, of Illinois, set out with a command of men who would face unrelenting cold and extreme challenges as they surveyed the northern boundary between the United States and Canada across Minnesota.
Candy MoultonDecember 15, 2024
The American West: Using A “Two-Wheeled Man-Tormentor” To Cross The Plains
After crossing the Atlantic, the travelers now faced several weeks of grueling travel pushing and pulling what was called a “two-wheeled man-tormentors” although one historian said it “might be bettered rendered as ‘two-wheeled torture devices.’”
Candy MoultonOctober 21, 2024
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: John C. Budd – A Real Cowboy from Age 10
John Budd and his five siblings grew up as many pioneer children did: doing whatever possible to help the family survive. That included becoming a cowboy. In his own words: “I started riding horses as soon as I was weaned and by the time I was ten years old I was a real cowboy and one of the gang; at least I thought so.”
Candy MoultonOctober 08, 2024
The American West: On This Day In 1877, Chief Joseph Surrenders His Gun
In shelter pits that had been hastily dug into the prairie of the Northern Plains, on October 5, 1877, with his weary, wounded people around him, Nez Perce Chief Joseph made his decision: “Tell General Howard I know his heart. I am tired of fighting.”
Candy MoultonOctober 04, 2024
The American West: St. Joseph, Missouri – Founded by Joseph Robidoux
In 1860, the Pony Express established itself in St. Joseph, and connected the nation during a period of great unrest just prior to the Civil War. The stables have been turned into a museum as has the Patee House, which served as the Pony Express Headquarters.
Candy MoultonSeptember 22, 2024
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: Gene Wollen, Cowboy From Bill Who Once Roped An Eagle
Gene Wollen, of Bill, will be inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame in October -- joining his late father who was inducted in 2017. Gene was great with a rope. He once, even, lassoed an eagle although the eagle let him know quickly who was boss.
Candy MoultonSeptember 14, 2024
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: Sam Hampton Spent A Lifetime On Horses
Sam Hampton is a legacy Wyoming rancher who lives by his own cowboy Golden Rule, which says, “To have good neighbors, first you have to be one.” This Washakie County pioneer will be inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame in October.
Candy MoultonSeptember 07, 2024
The American West: The Ohio Cavalry Protected Wyoming Trails
Split Rock Station, constructed in 1859 near the landmark of the same name, was garrisoned by about 50 soldiers of the 6th Ohio in 1862 when traditionally friendly Shoshone Indians and their Bannock allies attacked stage stations along the Sweetwater River...
Candy MoultonAugust 26, 2024
The American West: Chinese Miners Helped Build Idaho And Montana
Before they found work building the Central Pacific Railroad, Chinese laborers were already working in gold mining operations across the Intermountain West.
Candy MoultonAugust 18, 2024
Candy Moulton: Famed John Brown Family Camped Here
Columnist Candy Moulton writes, "When Janelle Malony takes to the stage to talk about her historical research, visitors are in for a true history lesson. Her pioneer family survived the Platte River Raid of 1864 with the families of Wyatt Earp and pre-Civil War abolitionist John Brown."
Candy MoultonAugust 13, 2024
The American West: Documenting the Wagonhound
A Frenchwoman from New York came to the Wagonhound, a large ranch outside of Douglas in a snowstorm. Wyoming’s open spaces, the seeming emptiness of the landscape, was the inspiration she sought.
Candy MoultonAugust 12, 2024
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame – Steven C. James: Chasing Cattle for over 65 years
Steve James of Daniel has been riding and checking cattle in the Hoback Basin since he was seven years old – a span of 65 years, even though he’s been riding for almost all his 73 years. In October he will be inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Candy MoultonAugust 02, 2024
The American West: John C. Fremont - The Pathfinder Fights Indians, Encounters Grizzly Bear In Carbon County
John C. Fremont first came into Carbon County in August of 1843, traveling west and camping on the principal fork of the Medicine Bow River near “an isolated mountain called the Medicine Butte.” This of course, was Elk Mountain.
Candy MoultonJuly 27, 2024
The American West: Steamboat Embodies Wyoming’s Cowboy Legacy
Wyoming’s most enduring symbol is our cowboy license plate. It's an old argument across Wyoming as to the rider depicted on the license plate. In Pinedale, old timers may tell you it’s Guy Holt. In Lander, sentiment leans toward Stub Farlow. In Laramie, the name most often mentioned is Jake Maring.
Candy MoultonJuly 20, 2024
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: Matilda ‘Tillie’ Bock Sewell Spent Years In The Saddle
In Wyoming ranch country, gender is irrelevant. Anyone who can do the job is a cowboy. Tillie Bock Sewell grew up riding horses in Weston County, and was one of the toughest cowboys in the region. She'll be inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame in October.
Candy MoultonJuly 20, 2024
Candy Moulton: Let the Wagons Roll
Columnist Candy Moulton writes, "Anyone who has been around horse drawn vehicles knows that one of the best builders today is Doug Hansen of Letcher, South Dakota, who readily admits he had a hobby – repairing wagon wheels – that turned into a business."
Candy MoultonJuly 16, 2024
The American West: How Calamity Jane Earned Her Stripes As An Army Scout
Sporting buckskin and a rifle, Calamity Jane looked every bit the part of a Western frontierswoman. She didn’t take kindly to the word “no" and quickly proved herself as an invaluable Army scout for troops in the Black Hills region.
Candy MoultonJuly 07, 2024
The American West: Fr. Pierre De Smet, The Jesuit Priest Who Baptized The West
Jesuit priest Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet was born in Belgium, but found his life’s calling establishing Catholic missions throughout the early settlement of the West, including holding the first Catholic mass in Wyoming.
Candy MoultonJune 30, 2024
The American West: First Missionary Women At Rendezvous Were True Trailblazers
Eliza Spalding and Narcissa Whitman were the first white women to come west in 1836. Although riding in a wagon across the Kansas and Nebraska was not a smooth journey, they found it to be a great mode of transportation.
Candy MoultonJune 16, 2024
Wyoming Cowboy Hall Of Fame Announces Class of 2024 Inductees
The men and women who will be inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame as members of the Class of 2024 have worked the open range, remote grazing allotments, and they have herded thousands of head of livestock.
Candy MoultonMay 03, 2024
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: Joseph Rex Wardell Ran Cattle For 53 Years
Joseph Rex Wardell was the seventh of nine children and earned his first saddle working as a horse wrangler at age 9. He spent 53 in the saddle for the Upper Green River Cattle Association.
Candy MoultonFebruary 17, 2024
Candy Moulton: Exploring The Sub-Arctic Tundra With 700 Polar Bears
Our guide told us the polar bears were opening their mouths wide because that is how they smell. Their eyesight isn’t great, but they can smell a seal through feet of pack ice … or the aroma of a couple of Wyoming tourists standing on the back platform of the tundra buggy.
Candy MoultonDecember 23, 2023
Sand Creek Massacre: The Most Dastardly Episode In American History Of Broken Promises
The Sand Creek massacre, which happened Nov. 29, 1864, was "really the most dastardly episode in American history of broken promises, followed by a massacre,” Indian Wars historian John Monnett told Cowboy State Daily.
Candy MoultonNovember 29, 2023
Wyoming History: Yellowstone’s Place In The Last Stand Of The Nez Perce Almost Lost To History
As the Nez Perce Tribe was making its way to a U.S. government-established reservation, they moved through Yellowstone as they made their last stand as a free people.
Candy MoultonNovember 25, 2023
Wyoming History: Sacajawea, A Culture Broker For America
For a long period of time there is no record of where Sacajawea was, but eventually, she made her way to Fort Lupton on the South Platte River and then continued north to join Chief Washakie’s people in Wyoming, where she lived the remainder of her life.
Candy MoultonNovember 12, 2023
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: Frank E. Miller Rode The Range In Carbon County
Frank Miller began riding for his father in 1924 when he was five years old. He only rode for one brand in his life, the I Lazy D, and in 55 years he rode a lot of horses to move cattle and sheep all across the 160,000 acres of ranch northeast of Rawlins.
Candy MoultonNovember 11, 2023
Wyoming Cowboy Hall Of Fame: Kent Snidecor’s Not A Rancher, He’s A Cowboy
Kent Snidecor of Cora, Wyoming, earned his spurs as a working cowboy the honest way, as a self-described “half-assed bronc rider” who “always felt better about myself when I was horseback.”
Candy MoultonNovember 05, 2023
The 1878 Double Murder Of Wyoming Lawmen Robert Widdowfield And Tip Vincent
The 1878 killing of Robert Widdowfield and Tip Vincent was the first double killing of lawmen in Wyoming territory and set Carbon County on a path that is unmatched in terms of grisly crimes and their aftermath.
Candy MoultonOctober 14, 2023
Wyoming People: Driskill Family Roots Run From The Cattle Trail To Devils Tower
The Driskill family started raising cattle in Texas 166 years ago, which led them to the Devils Tower region, where they’ve been punching cows since before Wyoming was a state.
Candy MoultonOctober 07, 2023
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: Veteran Legacy & New Exhibit At Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum
Church Hill Firnekas of Buffalo enlisted in the army in 1917 and took 10,000 horses and mules to France. The sea was rough and they couldn’t land. But in true Wyoming cowboy style, Church jumped on a mule and rode him overboard. The horses and other mules followed and they all made it to the shore.
Candy MoultonSeptember 15, 2023
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: Mickey and Bill Thoman, a Cowboy Couple
Mary A. “Mickey” Thoman rode into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame five years ago and on Saturday her late husband William “Bill” Thoman will join her in the elite group of women and men recognized in the Cowboy State for their cowboy work.
Candy MoultonSeptember 12, 2023
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: A Hamilton Cowboy Legacy
Wyoming was not even a territory in 1857 when 29-year-old Richard Henry Hamilton came west from Missouri to settle at Fort Bridger. He and his son, Charles Beal Hamilton, represent a four-generation cowboy legacy with their 2023 induction into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Candy MoultonAugust 31, 2023
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: Mary Flitner – My Ranch, Too
Mary Budd Flitner was the second of three daughters and her father expected them to “do a day’s work” on the ranch. They learned how to “read” and “finesse” cattle by understanding behavior and anticipating what cattle might do next.
Candy MoultonAugust 27, 2023
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: Marion Scott, Campbell County Cowboy
In 1949, the Scott Ranch had no equipment to move the record-breaking snow, so horses provided the power for all the work. At 17-years-old, Marion loaded 400-500 pounds of cake on two pack horses and rode seven miles through the deep snow to feed their cows. He did this every day for weeks.
Candy MoultonAugust 19, 2023
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: Pat Dew
In 1913, when he was 21, William Patrick "Pat" Dew drove a wagon from Nebraska to Pinedale where he soon found a cowboy job in Big Piney country, spending most of his time on the round-up and on the range. Dew will be inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame in September.
Candy MoultonAugust 15, 2023
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: Marie Jordan Bell -- Iron Mountain Cowgirl Who Earned Her Spurs
The passion that Marie had to be horseback and actively involved in working with cattle was evident when her horse jumped an icy creek and fell on her when she was in her late 70s. Doctors said she would never ride again. She proved them wrong.
Candy MoultonAugust 08, 2023
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: Bill Francis, Cowboying in Jackson Hole
After serving on the front line in Europe during World War I, earning sharpshooter status, Bill Francis returned home to Jackson Hole and was horseback nearly every day, working cattle, breaking and training horses, and maintaining his cowboy lifestyle working right beside his wife. He was inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2021.
Candy MoultonAugust 01, 2023
A Southern Wyoming Rendezvous: A Serving of Homemade Ice Cream and History
Trapping, trading and black powder were buzzing again in the Grand Encampment area of southern Wyoming for living history day. Visitors get to tour a tie hack cabin, one-room schoolhouse, stage station, a livery filled with wagons, and even a two-story outhouse.
Candy MoultonJuly 29, 2023
34-Years Ago Sunday, Lane Frost Died At Cheyenne Frontier Days, Cowboys Remember
It’s been 34 years since Lane Frost’s last bull ride at Cheyenne Frontier Days on July 30, 1989. This week, bull riders in Cheyenne remembered Frost and what he means to the sport.
Candy MoultonJuly 29, 2023