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.

Find Jackie Dorothy

Latest from Jackie Dorothy

For 30 years, Miner’s Delight in Atlantic City drew the rich and famous for French food in the middle of nowhere. “One patron said it was the only place where she was willing to wear heels through cow manure to get in,” said the local historical society.

For Upscale French Cuisine, ‘Miner’s Delight’ in Atlantic City, Wyoming, Was Tops

For 30 years, the Miner's Delight restaurant in remote Atlantic City, Wyoming, was the place to go in the Cowboy State. Started by an advertising executive from New York, the upscale French cuisine attracted diners from hundreds of miles away.

Jackie DorothyMay 31, 2026

An egraving depicting Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer's last stand at the Battle of The Little Bighorn in 1876.

Wyoming History: The Courier Who Carried First Dispatch From Custer’s Last Stand

John “Josh” Deane came West looking for adventure — and got more than he bargained for when he took a job as a military dispatch rider. It was 150 years ago that he found himself carrying the first message about Custer’s last stand to Wyoming’s Fort Brown.

Jackie DorothyMay 31, 2026

For 45 years, Monsieur Philip Krass smoked cigars, fished the Big Horn Basin and would drive more than 100 miles for a game of bridge. “If you needed him for an emergency, you had to figure out who was hosting that night’s bridge game,” said Dee Arps, 108. Here, he's pictured with Iris Cavalli of Thermopolis, 90, who was the secretary and execultor of Krauss' estate and knew him well.

Wyoming History: Monsignor Philip Krass Loved Smoking Cigars And Playing Bridge

For 45 years, Monsignor Philip Krass smoked cigars, fished the Big Horn Basin and would drive more than 100 miles for a game of bridge. “If you needed him for an emergency, you had to figure out who was hosting that night’s bridge game,” said Dee Arps, 108.

Jackie DorothyMay 25, 2026

Mark Potter of the Wind River Canyon left the chaos of city life in Denver for a quieter life in Thermopolis. Potter was not expecting the isolation from the conveniences of modern life such as fast food and home improvement stores but has discovered that he loves being away from the busy social life he once led. He said that he has discovered the simple joys of mowing his lawn and taking care of his mom’s 15-year-old Chihuahuas he had inherited.

Wyoming People: Mark Potter Gives Up Big City Chaos To Live In Wind River Canyon

Mark Potter gave up a chaotic life in Denver to live in isolation in Wyoming’s Wind River Canyon with a pair of yappy dogs. He likely saved his neighbors May 16 when he called 911 to report a wildfire near the railroad tracks in the canyon.

Jackie DorothyMay 25, 2026

Wyoming’s monastery in the Bighorn Basin is being built in the Gothic style of the medieval monasteries of Europe. The blocks of stone are designed on a computer and carved by a robot rather than by hand, saving decades of work and millions of dollars.

Wyoming’s Mountain Monks: Simple Men Of Faith Go High-Tech To Build A Gothic Monastery

Wyoming’s Carmelite mountain monks are using computers, heavy machinery and robots to build a massive Gothic monastery in the mountains of the Bighorn Basin. It’s a stark contrast to the simple lives of faith these men live making coffee and raising cattle.

Jackie DorothyMay 23, 2026

By 1905, the town of Battle in the Sierra Madres of Wyoming had been mostly abandoned and the buildings left behind by the 1910s. Once a lively town, Battle boasted five saloons, numerous houses of ill repute, several retail stores, two hotels, a post office, newspaper and school.

Wyoming History: In Ghost Town Of Battle, Miners And Sheep Men Hated Each Other

Now a ghost town, Battle in the rugged Wyoming Sierra Madres lived up to its name, where miners and sheepherders hated each other. “The raucous music of its honky-tonks was interrupted more than once by a miner-herder foray,” historians wrote.

Jackie DorothyMay 17, 2026

The first cars to legally enter Yellowstone National Park happened in 1915. Thirteen years before, Henry G. Merry crashed through the gate with his 1897 Winton which was officially the first car to drive into the park.

Wyoming History: First Car In Yellowstone Was A Gate-Crasher Who Got Cars Banned

Henry Merry became the first person to drive a car in Yellowstone in 1902 when he crashed the park’s gate at 25 mph in his 1897 Winton. After he and his wife were kicked out, cars were officially banned in Yellowstone for another 13 years.

Jackie DorothyMay 17, 2026

Eldon Hongo quit a six-figure career to do what he really loves — training bird dogs — and made just $12,000 his first year. Now the Cheyenne-area trainer’s resume includes 17 national champion bird dogs and a reputation as the best in the business.

Fire Chief Says Wind River Canyon Fire Started By BNSF Train "Mechanical Issue"

Fremont County Fire Chief Ron Wempen told Cowboy State Daily the Wind River Canyon fire was started by a "mechanical issue" on a BNSF train. "Initially, they had a fire on board the locomotive itself," he said of Saturday's fire which grew to 133-acres.

Andrew Rossi & Jackie DorothyMay 16, 2026

Portuguese Fort Painting inset scaled 5 10 26

Wyoming History: Oldest Fur Trading Fort Survived Indian Attacks, But Not Jim Bridger

Antonio Montero and his mountain men survived a 40-day attack by Sioux warriors at what’s known today as the “Portuguese Houses,” Wyoming’s oldest fur trading fort founded in 1834. But it was rival Jim Bridger and Crows that finally chased Montero away.

Jackie DorothyMay 10, 2026

Jerry Kinkade, now 91, was a kid 80 years ago when his dad tried to run a covered wagon camping trip from Wyoming to Montana. It didn't go well and they never did another one. But now decades later, a few photos from that trip have turned up in a thrift shop 1,200 miles away.

Photos From Lost Wyoming Covered Wagon Trip Found 1,200 Miles Away In Thrift Shop

A Wyoming family’s 80-year-old photos from a doomed covered wagon camping trip found their way to a thrift shop 1,200 miles away. Jerry Kinkade remembers it well, but says that now “I am 91, so I’m gonna go chase women and drink a lot of whiskey."

Jackie DorothyMay 10, 2026

A Crowheart ranching family is compressing their waste wool into little pellets that fertilizes while helping up to 25% of their weight in water. That can be drought-busting for growers, as they hold that moisture in soil, studies show.

Wyoming Ranchers Turn Their Waste Wool Into Drought-Busting Garden Pellets

A Crowheart ranching family is compressing their waste wool into little pellets that fertilizes while holding up to 25% of their weight in water. That can be drought-busting for growers, as they hold that moisture in soil, studies show.

Jackie DorothyMay 10, 2026

Bob Edgar had preserved the story of the Lady in Blue, a murdered prostitute from the town of Arland, and was given the opportunity to rescue Belle Drewry from an unmarked grave. She was exhumed from her grave in the ghost town of Arland on Oct. 12, 1986 and given a proper funeral and burial in the Old Trail Town the following spring.

Wyoming History: Digging Up The Bones Of A Notorious Old West Prostitute

A notorious Old West Wyoming prostitute known as the Lady in Blue was murdered in a revenge killing in 1897 near Meeteetse. Nearly 90 years later, her bones were dug up and reburied — and part of her dress was still her signature cobalt blue.

Jackie DorothyMay 03, 2026

Other Authors

Sam Cremer arrived in the Bighorn Basin in his early 20s and nearly did not survive his first few years “bronc stomping” for the Embar Ranch. Despite threatening to quit the rough life, he never did and cowboyed late into life. He lived to be 92-years-old and a father of three.

Wyoming History: The Adventures Of Sam Cremer, The Unluckiest Cowboy In The West

By all accounts, Sam Cremer was top cowboy in Wyoming in the early 1900s and a good hand on a roundup wagon. He also was unlucky — really unlucky. He was known to “get himself in more uncalled-for trouble than a pack of kids around a hornet’s nest."

Jackie DorothyMay 02, 2026

Plant Now, Drop Later: Wyoming Pumpkin King Shares His Super Pumpkin Seeds

Worland's Jay Richard, known as Wyoming's Pumpkin King, is making available hundreds of his super pumpkin seeds to raise money for the Worland Community Garden. Richard is best known for dropping 2,000-pound pumpkins from a giant crane each autumn.

Jackie DorothyMay 02, 2026

Nate Champion and other small-time cowboys were targeted by the Johnson County Regulators/Invaders in spring 1892. They had become outlaws overnight when the Maverick law passed in Cheyenne, outlawing the branding of ‘maverick’ cows to anyone but the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. Mary Taylor Cash was only a young teenager when the trouble erupted and knew many of the men who were on the list to be assassinated.

Wyoming History: The 14-Year-Old Girl Who Survived The Johnson County War

Mary Taylor Cash was just 14 years old when her brother was nearly killed during the Johnson County Invasion of 1892. It was just one of many stories Cash told her granddaughter in 1959 about the northern Wyoming range war that ran from 1889 to 1893.

Jackie DorothyApril 27, 2026

Cookie jars are a common decoration in most kitchens in Thermopolis, Wyoming because of the popularity of the Cookie Jar Auctions in the small community. Each year, tens of thousands of dollars are raised to help pay the medical bills of the residents most in need. John Gerrells, who first proposed the idea over 30 years ago, has boxes full of cookie jars ready for the next auction and has kept a few of his favorites as keepsakes. His sheep wagon cookie jar has become a running joke between him and a friend who take turns bringing it to the auctions and bidding on it.

Thermopolis Has Ponied Up $1 Million For Cookie Jars Over Past 30 Years

Cookie jar auctions have become the go-to fundraiser in Thermopolis, Wyoming, where the 4,600 residents have ponied up more than $1 million over the past 30 years. This year, the record $70,000 raised will help the auction’s founder fight cancer.

Jackie DorothyApril 25, 2026

A glitch in the software of this electronic sign at Alpine Animal Hospital in Laramie, Wyoming, shows it's minus 196 degrees. If true, it would by far be the coldest place ever recorded on the planet.

Temperatures To Plunge 40 Degrees Across Much Of Wyoming

Wednesday morning will be the last warm weather for the rest of the week across much of Wyoming, as Don Day and other meteorologists predict a 40-degree drop in temps starting Wednesday. “It is going to get colder and stay cool for several days,” he said.

Jackie DorothyApril 21, 2026

Scotty Ratliff worked for two decades to get an updated edition of “Tribal Government: Wind River Indian Reservation” available for the general public and Wyoming schools. He said that teaching tribal government should be included in all Wyoming government classes in the Cowboy State.

Former Wyoming Legislator Revives Long-Lost Guide To Tribal Government

Scotty Ratliff worked for two decades to get an updated edition of “Tribal Government: Wind River Indian Reservation” available to the public and Wyoming schools. Teaching tribal government should be included in all Wyoming government classes, he says.

Jackie DorothyApril 19, 2026

Remembering Jara: The Wyoming K-9 Officer Who Had A Cartel Hit On Her

Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Jara was so good at sniffing out drugs, a Mexican cartel put out a hit on her. The K-9 also saved lives and was on the “Dr. Phil” show. She received a hero’s sendoff when she died earlier this month.

Jackie DorothyApril 19, 2026

Ernest Whaley, the son of Clifford Whaley, lived in Wyoming for a few years after the death of his first wife. He returned to New York, his hometown, when his mom asked him to come back. The photo of him in his cowboy hat is a prized photo of his family who have always been proud of their Western roots.

Old Photos Reunite New York And Wyoming Branches Of Whaley Family After 125 Years

The Whaley family arrived in Shell, Wyoming, in 1890, and remains in the Big Horn Basin. A son moved to New York in the early 1900s, and his line disappeared until a great-grandson posted old photos, reuniting the Wyoming and New York Whaleys.

Jackie DorothyApril 18, 2026

Left, Beth and Tom Ronketty pose with two photos that they believe are Billy the Kid before he became an outlaw. The photo has been in Beth’s family since the late 1800s and she had grown up with her dad telling her it was Billy before he shamed the family and became an outlaw. Right, the only verified photo of Billy the Kid is this damaged tintype, which sold at an auction in 2011 for $2.3 million.

New Jersey Family Claims It Has 2 Billy The Kid Photos From Before His Outlaw Days

A New Jersey family says it has two photos of Billy the Kid from before he was a notorious outlaw. If true, it would be historic as there has only been one verified image of Billy the Kid, a damaged tintype that sold at auction for $2.3 million.

Jackie DorothyApril 18, 2026