Writer

Jackie Dorothy

Jackie Dorothy is a reporter for Cowboy State Daily based in central Wyoming.

Over the past 20 years, Jackie has worked in television, radio and print across Wyoming. In this role, she has won numerous writing and history awards including the Wyoming Governor’s Journalist of the Year and SBA Journalist of the Year.

Jackie is also the podcast host of ‘Pioneers of Outlaw Country’ that explores little known historical stories of Wyoming with entertaining narrative.

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Latest from Jackie Dorothy

Tom Houghton smiles doing ranch chores, even when it's minus 17 outside.

It’s Never Too Cold For Chores On Wyoming’s Family Ranches

As a blast of Arctic cold has plunged Wyoming into a double-digit deep freeze, most stay indoors as much as possible. Not so for the state’s family ranchers. It’s never too cold for feeding the animals and outdoor chores.

Jackie DorothyJanuary 20, 2025

Joe Kenney hosted Coffee Time for decades before retiring and eventually starting a podcast.

Joe Kenney’s Been A Fixture On Wyoming Radio For 60 Years

You may not know Joe Kenney to look at him, but chances are you know his voice. Kenney’s been a fixture on Lander and Wyoming radio for going on 60 years.

Jackie DorothyJanuary 19, 2025

Wyoming Towns Used To Have Their Own Money, Which Is Now Worth Big Bucks

For 70 years, National Banks in Wyoming could have their own money printed, complete with their names and towns on it. Now these $10 and $20 bills are still legal tender, and worth big bucks to collectors.

Jackie DorothyJanuary 18, 2025

The original concept for Mount Rushmore included not only the heads of the four presidents, but their torsos as well.

Did You Know The Presidents On Mount Rushmore Were Supposed To Have Bodies, Too?

It took more than 400 workers 14 years to carve the heads of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln into Mount Rushmore. Did you know the original plan was for them to have bodies, too?

Jackie DorothyJanuary 18, 2025

Kathleen and Michael Gear, Wyoming's first couple of writing.

Michael And Kathleen Gear: Wyoming’s First Couple Of Writing Have Published 88 Books

Every book New York Times best-seller Michael and Kathleen Gear write is influenced by Wyoming. After 88 published books, the Gears are scratching a new itch to write short stories.

Jackie DorothyJanuary 12, 2025

Officials Say Flu, Other Viruses Spike In Wyoming, Even As Tests Come Up Negative

Doctors in Wyoming reporting a sharp increase in illnesses like flu, COVID-19 and other unknown viruses. Even so, people testing for flu are coming up negative, indicating the virus is changing, health officials say.

Jackie DorothyJanuary 07, 2025

Images from a 1951 reel featuring home movies of a Cheyenne, Wyoming, family.

Lost Home Videos From 1940s, ’50s And ’60s Coming Home To Wyoming

After a woman in Hayward, California, discovered a cache of old home videos in the attic of her newly purchased home, she's been on a mission to find family members connected to them. The videos were filmed in Cheyenne in the 40s, 50s, and 60s.

Jackie DorothyJanuary 05, 2025

Nellie Tayloe Ross, first female Wyoming governor, looks sharp as if about to turn and walk to Wyoming’s state Capitol in the background. Inset, Ross when she was Wyoming's governor.

Wyoming History: Nellie Tayloe Ross Sworn In As First Woman Gov. 100 Years Ago

It’s been 100 since a series of tragedies and unexpected twists changed history for one Wyoming woman, the Cowboy State and politics in the United States. Nellie Tayloe Ross was sworn in Jan. 5, 1925, as Wyoming’s — and America’s — first woman governor.

Jackie DorothyJanuary 04, 2025

Kenny Clabaugh was described as a man easy in the saddle who liked his horses big to match his own tall stature.

Wyoming Rodeo Legend Kenny Clabaugh Remembered As A Cowboy’s Cowboy

Wyoming hall-of-fame rodeo pick-up man Kenny Clabaugh, 78, died New Year’s Eve. The rodeo legend is being remembered as one of the best in the business and a cowboy’s cowboy.

Jackie DorothyJanuary 04, 2025

Before there was a bridge across the Bighorn River, people took their lives in their own hands trying to cross on their own or on a ferry.

Wyoming History: Before There Were Bridges, Crossing Rivers Was Dangerous And Deadly

To early pioneers, Wyoming rivers could be the most dangerous adversary they faced. Fording high waters claimed many lives in the early years of the Cowboy State and cut off entire towns from the rest of the world.

Jackie DorothyDecember 25, 2024

If it’s wacky, wild or weird in Wyoming, Dean Peterson of Cheyenne is talking about it. Even the paranormal is fair game for his “That Doesn’t Happen Everyday” podcast.

Podcast Is All About Stuff That’s Wacky, Wild Or Weird In Wyoming

What do cattle mutilations, a grave robber and a good Samaritan have in common? They are all featured on Dean Petersen’s Wyoming-based podcast, “That Doesn’t Happen Everyday.”

Jackie DorothyDecember 25, 2024

Jim and Paulette Moss roping together at the 2004 USTRC Finals in Oklahoma City. After Jim hurt his shoulder in a roping event, Paulette roped another eight years before she realized he wasn’t coming back. She retired and focused on their magazine.

The WRANGLER Magazine: A Couple's Nearly 40-Year Love Affair With Wyoming And Cowboy Life

You may not know Jim and Paulette Moss, but chances are you know their work. As publishers of The WRANGLER magazine, they shared their love affair with Wyoming and cowboy life for nearly 40 years.

Jackie DorothyDecember 25, 2024

Other Authors

Ralphie in "A Christmas Story" finally gets his coveted Red Ryder BB gun.

Christmas Is Time For First Guns For Many Wyoming Kids

Like in the classic 1983 moving “A Christmas Story,” all many Wyoming kids want for Christmas is their first gun. For some, that’s the legendary Red Ryder BB gun.

Jackie DorothyDecember 24, 2024

Bird Flu Is Making Christmas Dinner More Expensive In Wyoming

While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed that human infections of bird flu are rare, the most recent outbreak is affecting Wyoming’s grocery prices — and people’s holiday dinners.

Jackie DorothyDecember 23, 2024

This strange, round sandstone boulder was unearthed on the Hogg Ranch near Meeteetse, Wyoming.

What Is That Weird Boulder Dug Up On Historic Wyoming Ranch?

A Wyoming family was surprised to run into a gigantic boulder while digging a trench on the historic Hogg Ranch near Meeteetse. Despite pressure to cut it open, they'll keep the giant rock as a decorative piece.

Jackie DorothyDecember 22, 2024

Daryl and Karen Kline drove their 2008 Mustang on Wyoming’s rugged backroads when they were following the trail of Butch Cassidy and his Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. Their Mustang made it safely back to their home in Iowa with only the dirt and red mud as a souvenir of their adventure.

Tourist Finds Out That Mustang Probably Not Best Choice To Explore Hole-In-The-Wall Wyoming

A tourist from Iowa was so fascinated by the stories of Butch Cassidy and the Hole-in-the-Wall gang that, despite warnings from locals in Thermopolis that he should take a four-wheel-drive, he went out to explore the area in his prized Mustang instead.

Jackie DorothyDecember 22, 2024

The ice jam on March 10, 1929, flooded the town of Greybull and left behind ice chunks and four feet of standing water.

Wyoming History: That Time In 1929 When Santa Saved Greybull With Dynamite Bombs

History says Santa saved Greybull from a devastating flood when he tossed dynamite bombs out an airplane. That was George Scott, who bomb an ice jam that threatened to wash Greybull off the map. He would go on to be the town’s Santa for years.

Jackie DorothyDecember 21, 2024

Original glass globes are very rare to find and so Randy Nissen relies on reproductions on his restoration of old gas pumps. He does not restore the gas pumps to their original state and uses his imagination to come up with the design.

Discovery In Wyoming Weed Field Started Vintage Collection Of Restored Gas Pumps

A Worland, Wyoming, man is obsessed with antique gas pumps, finding them and restoring them to their former glory — or better. The obsession began 15 years ago when he found a rusted old pump in a field of weeds.

Jackie DorothyDecember 15, 2024

Willie LeClair dressed in his regalia and head dress as a culture ambassador and preserver of the sign language of the Plains.

Willie LeClair: Eastern Shoshone Spiritual Leader, Teacher And Storyteller

Eastern Shoshone tribe member Willie LeClair walked dual worlds as a cowboy and an American Indian in Wyoming. His legacy is as a spiritual leader, storyteller and teacher who also had a “wicked sense of humor.”

Jackie DorothyDecember 15, 2024

University of Wyoming Professor Emeritus Phil Roberts has a new fellowship named for him to continue his legacy of teaching Cowboy State history.

UW Fellowship Honors Phil Roberts, Who Taught Wyoming History To Thousands

Nobody knows Wyoming like Phil Roberts, the University of Wyoming professor emeritus who literally wrote the book on Cowboy State history. A new UW fellowship has been named for Roberts, who taught tens of thousands of students over the years.

Jackie DorothyDecember 15, 2024

Cows graze on a ranch near Kaycee, Wyoming, in this file photo.

Wyoming History: That Time In 1907 A Cow Ate 19 Sticks Of Dynamite And Exploded

It was 1907 when a cow wandered onto a mining claim in Birdseye, Wyoming, ate 19 sticks of dynamite and exploded. "What hurts is that we had to pay $45 for the cow," lamented the owner.

Jackie DorothyDecember 14, 2024