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

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

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

Other Authors

A very Charlie Brown-esque Christmas tree at the U.S. Forest Service Office in Greybull, Wyoming.

Wyoming Forest Rangers And Hotshots Spread Cheer With “Charlie Brown” Trees

U.S. Forest Service Rangers and Hotshot firefighters in Greybull, Wyoming, cut Christmas trees to donate around Big Horn County this past weekend. The “Charlie Brown” trees are lighting up homes and offices for the season.

Jackie DorothyDecember 09, 2024

Wyoming State Parks maintains small herds of semi-wild bison that roam freely across Hot Springs and Bear River state parks. To keep the herd at optimal size, the state is selling 15 to the highest bidders.

Want To Buy A Wild Bison? Wyoming State Parks Is Selling 15

For the person who has everything, Wyoming State Parks is selling 15 wild bison. They’re huge, healthy and as close to genetically pure wild bison as is possible. They’re also available to the highest bidders.

Jackie DorothyDecember 07, 2024

As proposed members of the future Trump administration consider making it legal to sell raw milk, it is already legal in several states, including Wyoming. Raw milk can be sold directly from the producer, like Little Acres Farm in Lovell, to the consumer who assumes the risk.

Wyoming Raw Milk Producers Part Of New Federal Mandate To Test For Bird Flu

A new federal mandate to test raw, unpasteurized milk for possible bird flu contamination goes into effect in less than two weeks. That’s news to some Wyoming producers who say they haven’t heard from federal officials about the new rule.

Jackie DorothyDecember 06, 2024

A horse with an infestation of screwworms on its back.

60 Years Ago, Wyoming Vet Helped Eradicate Devastating Flesh-Eating Screwworm

Wyoming Veterinarian Larry Friedman helped eradicate a devastating flesh-eating cattle parasite called screwworm in the 1960s. Now it's again a potential threat to Wyoming and U.S. ranchers.

Jackie DorothyDecember 05, 2024

A herd of cows lingers around a watering hole in Albany County.

Wyoming Ranchers Warned Of Devastating Screwworm Infestation In Mexico

The Wyoming Department of Agriculture is warning ranchers about a devastating threat to animals and people found in Mexico. The new world screwworm has been confirmed, prompting an immediate closure of the border to cattle imports.

Jackie DorothyDecember 03, 2024

Slim Coats and Oscar Taylor race in the whitewater race through the Wind River Canyon.

That Time Boaters Famously Rode The Dangerous Wind River Rapids In Rowboats

From 1948 to 1951, the Wind River Canyon White Water race was the most dangerous — and famous — river race in America. The Wyoming Memorial Day event featured racers navigating the rapids and rocks in rowboats.

Jackie DorothyDecember 01, 2024

Pictured on the right is Jim Harrower, his daughter Jean, and son Jim Jr. Not pictured is his wife Alice and his youngest son, Bob, with the only real outside contact being the few ranches that existed in the area. A great kinship developed between the Harrower family and the surrounding ranch families as they relied on each other for such things as medical care and companionship.

Legacy Of 1920s Wyoming Park Rancher: Mountain Peaks, Red Desert Elk Herds, Mountain Man Museum

With his intimate knowledge of Wyoming trails, Jim Harrower lobbied to protect the Oregon Trail, immigrant graves and South Pass City. He helped found the Rendezvous pageant and the Museum of the Mountain Man, both in Pinedale.

Jackie DorothyDecember 01, 2024

The Barney Sweeney Ranch in Sweetwater County, 22 miles from Rock Springs.

Man Spends 30 Years Photographing Wyoming’s Disappearing Ranches

Larry Friedman began taking photos of the Sweetwater County homesteads he was visiting as a Wyoming veterinarian in 1977. For the next 30 years, he recorded a disappearing era, including the Sweeney family ranch in southwest Wyoming.

Jackie DorothyDecember 01, 2024

Climbing on cliffs over the ocean in Italy.

Car Crash Derails Wyoming Athlete’s Quest To Sail 7 Seas And Climb 7 Summits

Sara Hastreiter had set a goal to become the only female, and only the second human ever, to sail all seven seas and to climb all seven summits. She was more than halfway there when a serious car crash derailed her efforts.

Jackie DorothyNovember 30, 2024

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