Business and Tourism Reporter

Renée Jean

Renée Jean is the business and tourism reporter for Cowboy State Daily and is based in Cheyenne. Previously, Renée spent seven years covering energy and agriculture in North Dakota and Montana. She has won many writing awards over a 30-year career, and has written magazine articles for Guideposts.

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Latest from Renée Jean

William Stocks, front, holds mountain man Jim Baker's sword up, demonstrating where it might be placed at the Little Snake River Museum, while LSR Museum board member Jim Roberts and LSR Museum Director Lela Emmons look on. Stocks has donated the sword to the museum, where it will join other Baker items on display.

Famous Wyoming Mountain Man Jim Baker’s Sword Found, Donated To Museum

William Stocks of Dixon inherited mountain man Jim Baker’s sword from his father, whose grandmother was given it by Baker himself. Last Monday, Stocks donated it to the Little Snake River Museum and now everyone can see it.

Renée JeanJune 22, 2024

Wyoming Photographer Snaps Nearly Perfect Image Of State Logo

Wyoming photographer Michael Magill spent years chasing a perfect photo that shows off the spirit of Wyoming. He captured a nearly identical image of the state logo last weekend at a rodeo in Chugwater.

Renée JeanJune 22, 2024

Clay Gibbons watches a music video by Kiesza at his ranch between Worland and Thermopolis. The video includes a poem he wrote in college for a classroom assignment. He was 23 when he wrote the poem.

Pop Star Kiesza Came To Wyoming To Dig Fossils And Discovered A Cowboy Poet

“The Mysterious Disappearance of Etta Place,” a new single from Canadian pop star Kiesza, is not only about Wyoming, its music video was filmed here and features a poem by Worland's cowboy historian Clay Gibbons.

Renée JeanJune 22, 2024

A horse and buggy brings guests in to the Esterbrook Church. Cars are parked a distance away, to leave room for those arriving the old fashioned way.

Once A Year, It’s Bring-Your-Horse-To Church Sunday In Esterbrook, Wyoming

This past Sunday, the townspeople of Esterbrook, Wyoming, celebrated the 20th anniversary of the "bring-your horse-to-church" event to celebrate Father's Day. They call it "Buckboard Sunday" and it has become quite the community affair.

Renée JeanJune 17, 2024

Sit down among the goats and you quickly become part of their idea of goat yoga, as Kristi Walk finds out.

Cheyenne Kids Go Wild Getting Their Own Urban Goats To Play With

Javier Garcia was riding his bike near Sun Valley Park in Cheyenne when he happened to see something unusual going on. Someone was unloading a bunch of goats and they were being handed off to random people.

Renée JeanJune 16, 2024

After 32 years as one of the anchor architects behind the growth of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, CFO Matt McCreedy is retiring June 30.

Anchor Architect Of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Retires After 32 Years

For nearly four decades, Jackson Hole’s highest elevation chairlift has been a superstar. Its fans have their own names for it like Space Mountain, Sublette or The Quad. Few of those fans, however, know the name of the man behind the scenes who made it happen.

Renée JeanJune 16, 2024

The Crystal Castle 23 miles west of Cheyenne near Crystal Lake was built in the 1960s by a man named Harry Widholm, who used 30,000 glass embalming fluid bottles to create a lake cabin — his castle away from home.

Wyoming’s ‘Crystal Castle’ Is Made From 30,000 Glass Embalming Fluid Bottles

Wyoming’s “Crystal Castle” is 23 miles west of Cheyenne and about 2 miles from Crystal Lake Reservoir in Curt Gowdy State Park. The vacation cabin was made from 30,000 embalming fluid bottles in the 1960s.

Renée JeanJune 16, 2024

Food Sunday: Huitlacoche Isn’t Popular In Wyoming, But Worth Trying (If You Can Find It)

Granted, huitlacoche may look horrible. After all, it's a fungus that grows on corn. It's also known as Mexican truffles, corn mushrooms or “corn smut.” Wyoming chef Petrina Peart says the $50 per pound delicacy is hard to get but fun to try.

Renée JeanJune 16, 2024

Drinking Wyoming: Pine Bluffs Distillery’s Coming-Of-Age Whiskey And Spirits

Pine Bluffs Distillery is Chad Brown’s American dream, creating his own unique whiskey and spirits in a town with more elevation than people. It’s an all-around Wyoming coming-of-age story.

Renée JeanJune 15, 2024

Traffic is heavy in Alpine, Wyoming, on Wednesday morning with people commuting from Idaho to Jackson for work. This photo was taken at about 8:30 a.m. heading north on Highway 89.

Wyoming-Idaho Commuters Say Teton Pass Detour Is Brutal

Commuters who live in Idaho and work in Jackson report the four-hour — or longer — round-trip detour after Saturday’s collapse of Highway 22 on Teton Pass is brutal.

Renée JeanJune 12, 2024

A “catastrophic failure” of Wyoming Highway 22 over Teton Pass overnight Friday saw a huge section wash down the mountain. A long closure of the “lifeline” between Jackson and Victor, Idaho, is expected.

"We're Still Open!" Businesses Concerned Over Impression Jackson Closed

The Wyoming Office of Tourism and the Town of Jackson are fighting the mistaken impression that the collapse of Highway 22 over Teton Pass means the whole area is closed to tourists. Millions of dollars in tourism revenue are at stake.

Renée JeanJune 11, 2024

Work is going quickly at the S curve that failed on Teton Pass over the weekend.

Teton Pass Collapse Also ‘Catastrophic’ For Jackson’s Out-Of-Town Workforce

The collapse of Highway 22 over Teton Pass has not only cut off a lifeline between Idaho and Wyoming, it’s also severed the main way to and from work for a huge segment of Jackson’s out-of-town workforce.

Renée JeanJune 10, 2024

Other Authors

Rusty Parrot, Jackson Boutique Luxury Retreat Destroyed In Fire, To Reopen July 1

A giant, 4-foot-tall rusty parrot folk art piece inspired the name of one of Jackson’s first boutique luxury hotels. It burned down in 2019, but has been rebuilt and will reopen July 1.

Renée JeanJune 10, 2024

Eastern Wyoming College welding student Dayton Tillman can expect to earn six figures when he graduates because he has a highly coveted skill in a profession that has a huge shortage of people.

Huge Shortage Of Workers Makes Welding A Lucrative Profession In Wyoming

Thanks to a huge shortage of welders, those skilled in the profession in Wyoming can make six figures right out of school. Underwater welders, meanwhile, can make more than $300,000 a year.

Renée JeanJune 09, 2024

Steam flies at a busy Kemo Sabe store in Jackson, where workers are putting the right shape on hats for waiting customers.

Cowboy Fashion Is Hip Again And People Will Spend Big Money To Look The Part

TV shows like Yellowstone and Longmire and stars like Beyonce have helped to make cowboy fashion popular again. That's good for Wyoming stores as tourists are spending big money on hats, art and all things western.

Renée JeanJune 09, 2024

The Kudar Cabins from the outside are channeling a 1930s vibe.

100 Years Of Gangsters, Priests And History At Jackson’s Iconic Kudar Cabins

It was nearly 100 years ago that a pair of baseball-playing brothers stumbled into Jackson Hole and were smitten. That led them to build the Kudar Log Cabins, a property that has 96 years of history in the heart of Jackson

Renée JeanJune 09, 2024

Jessica Sell Chamber's tenants have been putting signs in their cars to let Jackson, Wyoming, police know they live in the homes they're parked in front of and are not just tourists camping out.

Jackson Town Councilwoman Gets Ticket For Parking In Front Of Her Own House

Jackson Town Councilwoman Jessica Sell Chambers learned she didn’t understand Jackson’s complicated parking rules when she got a ticket for parking in front of her own home. The rules prohibit parking the same vehicle within a single block area for more than 72 hours

Renée JeanJune 08, 2024

High Country Suites in Pinedale, Wyoming (via Google)

Polarizing Billionaire Joe Ricketts Buys 'Haliburton Hotel' In Pinedale

The High Country Suites in Pinedale — known to locals as the Haliburton Hotel — was sold to billionaire Joe Ricketts last month, just after his purchase of White Pines Ski Resort. Ricketts has drawn criticism for wanting to rename the town of Bondurant to "Little Jackson Hole."

Renée JeanJune 05, 2024

The lot where Mega Mogul proposed building a massive 360,000-square-foot hotel has landed in limbo after the Jackson Town Council approved a 120-day moratorium on large developments.

Jackson Council Halts Massive 360,000-Square-Foot Mega Hotel For 120 Days

Mogul Capital’s proposed 360,000-square-foot mega hotel at the north end of Jackson has landed in limbo for at least 120 days after the town council put a moratorium on large development projects.

Renée JeanJune 05, 2024

The massive 1-meter telescope seems immovable. Until, like an alien robot, it suddenly moves.

Bill Nye, Hundreds Of Others Starstruck Over Jackson’s Giant New $8M Planetarium

Bill Nye the Science Guy was among the attendees on Saturday to see Snow King Mountain Resort’s new $8 million planetarium. The giant 1-meter telescope is the second largest in Wyoming.

Renée JeanJune 03, 2024

Audra's Copper Cool in Thermopolis, Wyoming.

Eating Wyoming: Eclectic Wyoming Coffee Shop All About Mocktails And Shaggy Cows

An eclectic coffee shop in Thermopolis is known for its coffee-based mocktails -- drinks that get their kick from coffee, not from liquor. They also have an obsession with their pets, Scottish Highland coos -- otherwise known as shaggy cows.

Renée JeanJune 02, 2024

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