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

The First National Bank of Meeteetse is listed on the National Historic Register and was once the richest bank in the Big Horn Basin.

That Time Robbers Only Got Away With $40 From Richest Bank In The Bighorn Basin

The First National Bank of Meeteetse, Wyoming, was never hit by the infamous Wild Bunch. It was the richest bank in the Bighorn Basin and a tempting target in 1958 when robbers used a crowbar to break into the vault. They only get away with $40.

Jackie DorothyApril 13, 2025

Willie LeClair dedicated much of his life teaching Plains Indian Sign Language.

Wyoming Humanities Shell-Shocked By Federal Cut, Loses 80% Of Its Budget

Wyoming Humanities has been shell-shocked by the federal government cutting a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. That money makes up 80% of its operating budget.

Jackie DorothyApril 11, 2025

Rancher Eddie Shumway built his lookout tower to enjoy the view above Owl Creek in Hot Springs County. He installed a solar light on his tower which can be seen for miles around.

Mischievous Rancher Behind Those Mysterious Lights In Rural Hot Springs County

The mysterious red, blue and green lights that flash in the middle of nowhere around Hot Springs County aren’t UFOs. They belong to Eddie Shumway, a mischievous rancher who likes giving people something to talk about.

Jackie DorothyApril 06, 2025

Public archaeologist Colin Ferriman with the Cultural Resource Analysts company surveys proposed project sites to look for potential historic and prehistoric artifacts that may need to be protected. Over the years, he and his team have discovered many interesting sites pertaining to Wyoming’s varied history including a mountain man trap and discarded bottles on the Oregon Trail.

Archeologists Have Only Begun Digging Up Wyoming’s Secrets Of The Past

Archaeologist Colin Ferriman travels around Wyoming and the region searching for historic artifacts at project sites for developing energy development. The Cowboy State has only begun giving up its secrets of the past.

Jackie DorothyApril 06, 2025

As spring approaches, ranchers in Wyoming are on the alert for the green shoots of larkspur. This beautiful wildflower is deadly to cattle.

Beautiful But Deadly, Larkspur Kills Wyoming Cattle And Frustrates Ranchers

As spring approaches, ranchers in Wyoming are on the alert for the green shoots of larkspur. This beautiful purple wildflower is deadly to cattle and frustrating for ranchers.

Jackie DorothyApril 05, 2025

Jack O'Rourke and Michael, his youngest son, several hundred miles off the coast of North Carolina as the sun goes down on a 1,200-mile sail south to the Virgin Islands.

How A Landlocked Wyoming Native Became A Sailor In The Virgin Islands

After a childhood of camping in the backcountry around Buffalo, Wyoming, Jack O’Rourke finds himself most at home living on a sailboat thousands of miles away. He says people ask all the time “how a boy from Wyoming ended up in the Virgin Islands.”

Jackie DorothyMarch 30, 2025

Truly in the middle of nowhere of southwest Wyoming, a historic Little America sign has been placed by Eddie Shumway. He found the treasure in his inherited junk pile and his daughter, Susie Brinkenhoff, painted it for him.

Long-Lost Little America Penguin Sign Rescued From Remote Wyoming Junk Pile

A historic metal Little America penguin sign was nearly rusted away, forgotten in a remote Wyoming junk pile, when rancher Eddie Shumway discovered it on his property in Hot Springs County. He has restored the iconic sign along an isolated highway.

Jackie DorothyMarch 29, 2025

Alfred Packer confessed to cannibalism for eating his five companions in the winter of 1874. He had been hired as their guide and instead got them lost in the San Juan mountains of Colorado during a blizzard. The spelling of his first name is wrong on this sign, a common mistake because Packer himself had a tattoo with his first name misspelled "Alfred."

A Wyoming Sheriff Caught Infamous Cannibal Alfred Packer, Brought Him To Justice

After eating his five traveling companions in the Colorado mountains in the winter of 1874, Alfred Packer eluded capture for nearly a decade. One of the most infamous cannibals in U.S. history was caught and brought to justice by a Wyoming sheriff.

Jackie DorothyMarch 29, 2025

Growing a garden in Wyoming’s climate can be difficult, especially when you plant the wrong seeds. A new company is helping Bighorn Basin gardeners find the right seeds for the Cowboy State’s unique climate.

How To Outsmart The Bighorn Basin Climate When Planting Your Garden

The Bighorn Basin has a long growing season, but it's very cool in the spring and very hot in the summer. If you pick the wrong seeds, you're doomed. A soil scientist in Worland says she has cracked the code and can un-doom your garden.

Jackie DorothyMarch 23, 2025

The American West: Wyoming’s First Woman Senator Brought Back The Saloons

When Thermopolis pioneer, businesswoman and advocate Dora McGrath decided to run for the Wyoming senate in 1930 it was to give soldiers all the freedoms for which they risked their lives -- including the freedom to drink alcohol.

Jackie DorothyMarch 23, 2025

A sheep wagon was built by individuals who had their own unique design. They left behind clues of who they were and Jim O’Rourke had been identifying these sheep wagons before his death in 2024.

Wyoming Man's Obsession Helped Preserve And Promote Sheep Wagons

Jim O'Rourke spend years crisscrossing Wyoming to find, preserve and promote the state's unique ranching invention — the sheep wagon. A year after his unexpected death, his wife continues that momentum of preserving and promoting sheep wagons.

Jackie DorothyMarch 23, 2025

Paleontologist Jason Schein, executive director of Elevation Science Institute, shows off the articulated tail of a 150-million-year-old long-necked sauropod from the Late Jurassic Period. The tail is among thousands of other dinosaur bones found in the Anderson Site on the Montana side of the Bighorn Basin near Bridger, Montana. Tracking dinosaurs throughout the basin, and across time, is what a new digital app is all about.

Digital Timeline Map Lets Anyone Track Dinosaurs When They Inhabited Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin

A new digital map called the “Bighorn Basin WY Land Mammal Age Map” allows users to track dinosaurs, prehistoric animals and ancient plants that once thrived in and ruled the Bighorn Basin in central Wyoming.

Jackie DorothyMarch 23, 2025

Other Authors

Park Ranger Sid Sibo was inspired to write her award-winning novel, “The Scent of Distant Family,” by the Wyoming landscape she worked and lived in for the past 30 years.

How A Dog Lost In The Wyoming Wilderness Inspired Park Ranger Turned Author

A former park ranger was inspired to write her first novel by Wyoming’s wilderness and a lost dog’s journey home. The result was “The Scent of Distant Family,” which has just been nominated for a national award.

Jackie DorothyMarch 21, 2025

Wyoming Cowboy Rapper, aka Jiggy Buckaroo, Takes His Outlaw Flow To Nashville

Growing up in Buffalo, Wyoming, once called the most lawless town in America, with a love of all things Western and rap music, it was inevitable Ryan Charles Kinzer would become the Jiggy Buckaroo cowboy rapper. He's taken his outlaw flow to Nashville.

Jackie DorothyMarch 21, 2025

The oil paintings for “A Home For Steamboat” have been framed and are ready to be displayed across the Cowboy State. Author Casey Rislov and Illustrator Zach Pullen are excited for the debut of their very Wyoming children’s book about the iconic figure on our license plates.

Casper Duo Casey Rislov And Zak Pullen To Release New Children's Book On Wyoming's Famed Steamboat

Casper children’s book author Casey Rislov and illustrator Zak Pullen are at it again. This time, they're telling the story about the iconic bucking horse on Wyoming’s license plate, Steamboat. The new book will be released in April.

Jackie DorothyMarch 15, 2025

Chancey Williams performs at the 2024 Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Moorcroft's Chancey Williams Looking Forward To Fifth Time Playing Cheyenne Frontier Days

This year will mark the fifth time Moorcroft's Chancey Williams will be playing at Cheyenne Frontier Days. He has opened for legends Merle Haggard, Dwight Yoakam, Gary Allen, Dierks Bentley and now Brooks and Dunn.

Jackie DorothyMarch 15, 2025

Wyoming Teacher Rode Same 1,900-Mile Bicycle Route Buffalo Soldiers Did In 1897

The story of Buffalo Soldiers riding bicycles 1,900 miles from Montana to Missouri in a post-Civil War military experiment had been nearly forgotten. Then a Deaver, Wyoming, teacher biked it himself. "It was one of the most meaningful things I've ever done in my life,” he said.

Jackie DorothyMarch 09, 2025

American West: The Kidnapped Doctor And Wounded Outlaw

In 1904, two masked men kidnapped a Thermopolis doctor to save the life of an outlaw at their remote ranch. The horse thief had been shot in a shoot-out with lawmen and his true identity remains a mystery to this day.

Jackie DorothyMarch 09, 2025

Lynette St. Clair of Fort Washakie, Wyoming, grew up listening to the language of her Shoshone people. She realized 30 years ago that it took only a generation for the Shoshone language to become endangered.

Wyoming Woman On Mission To Not Let Shoshone Language And Culture Die

Lynette St. Clair of Fort Washakie grew up listening to the language of her Shoshone people. She realized 30 years ago that the language and culture could die. So she made it her mission to share the language, culture and history with the next generation.

Jackie DorothyMarch 08, 2025

Kaden Horrocks of Utah, riding a King Rodeo Co. bronc at the 2024 Frozen Fury Bronc Futurity hosted by the Hell on Wheels Rodeo Company of Cheyenne.

Started When Cheyenne Frontier Days Was Canceled, Popular Hell On Wheels Rodeo Still Going Strong

In 2020, when Cheyenne Frontier Days was canceled because of COVID-19, Cindy DeLancey and her family launched the Hell on Wheels rodeo. Five summers later, their open rodeos are still being held beginning June 6, leading up to Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Jackie DorothyMarch 08, 2025

Englishman Mike Bell didn’t start out to become an expert on Butch Cassidy and Wyoming outlaws. But his research led him to writing several books on this very topic and sharing his love of the Wyoming west in his home country.

The English Westerner Society: Brits Obsessed with Wyoming, Outlaws And All Things Cowboy

The English Westerner Society started in the 1950s to give American West enthusiasts in England a place to talk about their favorite topic. Mike Bell is one of those British enthusiasts. He has written several books on Butch Cassidy and Wyoming outlaws.

Jackie DorothyMarch 02, 2025