Wyoming Life | Cowboy State Daily

South Pass City’s Chilling 1875 Murder Still Haunts Wyoming With Unsolved Secrets

South Pass City was rocked by the mysterious 1875 killing of George McOmie, a crime never solved. Decades later, ghost stories and unanswered questions still haunt the old Wyoming gold town. Modern day sleuths tried (and failed) to solve the mystery last weekend.

Renée JeanOctober 12, 2025

Discovery Channel's “Ghost Adventures” Looks For Casper’s Haunted Underbelly In Season Premier

The ghost hunters in Discovery Channel's “Ghost Adventures,” says Casper is a supernatural hotspot. A crew of 17 spent six days exploring ghosts, witches, and aliens in Casper for the season premiere of the show which debuts on October 15.

Renée JeanOctober 12, 2025

Fans can hardly wait for the sequel to Taylor Sheridan’s "Wind River," a 2017 triller set in Wyoming's remote Wind River Range. That’s making the first movie trend again on Netflix, although Wyomingites might struggle with inaccuracies in the movie.Fans can hardly wait for the sequel to Taylor Sheridan’s "Wind River," a 2017 triller set in Wyoming's remote Wind River Range. That’s making the first movie trend again on Netflix, although Wyomingites might struggle with inaccuracies in the movie.

Taylor Sheridan's “Wind River” A Top Pick On Netflix Again As Fans Await Sequel

It appears fans are anxiously awaiting the sequel to Taylor Sheridan’s "Wind River," a 2017 thriller set in Wyoming's Wind River Range. That’s making the first movie one of the most-watched on Netflix again, although Wyomingites might struggle with the many inaccuracies

Renée JeanOctober 12, 2025

Wyoming History: The Wall Of Water That Devastated Wheatland Ranches In 1969

In 1969, a wall of water flowed out of Wheatland Irrigation District’s Reservoir No. 1, devastating ranches and farmland for miles. Some thought the cause was dynamite, others a natural event. The real answer remains a mystery.

Dale KillingbeckOctober 12, 2025

Colorado Rockies announcer Jerry Schemmel saved an 11-month-old baby girl and survived one of the most gruesome plane crashes in American history 36 yearw ago. But sometimes surviving can feel worse than death.

Rockies Announcer Jerry Schemmel Shares How Plane Crash Changed His Life

After surviving United Flight 232, which killed 112 people in 1989, Jerry Schemmel went back in the wreckage to save an 11-month-old baby girl. Years later, wracked by survivor's guilt, he did something he'd never done before: he said a prayer.

Zakary SonntagOctober 12, 2025

Wyoming Ballerina Needed Nerves Of Steel To Attend Boot Camp And Pursue Dreams

Thermopolis teen Skylar Lippincott overcame rejection and grueling challenges to earn a coveted spot at Ballet Chicago. “You have to work hard all the time and learn to ignore pain,” Lippincott said. “Ballet is a lifestyle.”

Jackie DorothyOctober 12, 2025

Frank McGovern, the son of a wealthy Eastern family, came to the gold fields to seek his own wealth. Instead, he spent the time at saloons such as the Exchange Saloon in South Pass City, and spent an estimated one million dollars in gold in less than three years in the late 1860s.

Wyoming History: Frank McGovern Squanders Fortune in Wyoming’s Sweetwater District

Educated Chicagoan Frank McGovern found the legendary Miners Delight mine, then lost over a million dollars to gambling, drinking, and violence, leaving behind a legacy of squandered wealth and scandal in South Pass City.

Jackie DorothyOctober 11, 2025

Hollywood Actress to Bring Big-Screen Christmas Film Production Home to Wyoming

Wyoming native and Hollywood actress Hannah Barefoot is planning to produce and film her original movie “Wyoming Christmas Carol” in her hometown of Cody. Barefoot has 72 TV and movie credits including many Lifetime and Hallmark movies.

Wendy CorrOctober 11, 2025

The Fountain Hotel with Leather Pool in the foreground and the hot water pipe visible in the meadow.

A Missing Heir And Mysterious Bell Haunted The Fountain Hotel In Yellowstone

A missing heir of a millionaire, disappearing motorists and a mysterious bell ringing for service in an empty room were some of the mysteries shrouding the Fountain Hotel in Yellowstone. Park rangers and guests were pleased when the luxury hotel was torn down in 1926, taking with it its ghosts.

Jackie DorothyOctober 11, 2025

Current members of the Midwest Oilers football team along with squad alumni posed for a photo together at halftime.

Midwest, Wyoming, Celebrates 100 Years Of Friday Night Lights

When the Midwest Oilers took the field Friday night, they celebrated the 100th anniversary of the nation's first high school football game under electric lights, which happened right here in Midwest, Wyoming. A game ball from 1925 was brought out for a special halftime ceremony.

Dale KillingbeckOctober 11, 2025

Otto the Slobbering Bear on the Jesse Hall dormitory at the University of Montana. Inset: Otto appears on the football helmets

Montana's Forgotten ‘Slobbering Bear’ College Mascot Gets His Helmet Debut

The University of Montana is reviving its quirky 1970s basketball mascot, Otto the Slobbering Bear, with a helmet debut for homecoming. The throwback design honors UM’s 1995 football title and has sparked mixed reactions online including some who call it a "meth bear."

David MadisonOctober 11, 2025

If You Get Lost At Ellis' Harvest Home Corn Maze In Lingle, They Send Out A Drone

Ellis’ Harvest Home in Lingle, Wyoming, is recognized as the state's oldest corn maze. Ugly pumpkins and caramel-apple nachos aren't the only cozy peculiarities there. Sometimes, Dan and Cheryl Ellis will deploy a drone to help lost visitors through the labyrinth.

Jackson WalkerOctober 10, 2025

Lake Sonnicant and Cleft Peaks in Wyoming (Dave Bell). Inset photo: Fred Ramsdell.

Nobel Prize Winner Misses Big News While Off-The-Grid in The Wyoming Wilderness

The world was calling Fred Ramsdell to tell the California researcher that he’d won a Nobel Prize. He was blissfully unaware, backpacking at 8,000 feet in the Wyoming mountains, until he discovered a flood of messages.

Renée JeanOctober 10, 2025

Skyline Drive above Pinedale, Wyoming. October 5, 2025

First Major Snowfall Drops A Foot On Beartooth Highway & Parts of Wyoming

Wyoming's mountains got a foot of snow over the weekend, enough to close Beartooth Highway and many roads in Yellowstone, in the first big snowfall of the winter ahead. Photographer Dave Bell called it a "winter wonderland."

Andrew RossiOctober 06, 2025

Andy and Amy Corbin of Cheyenne broke their own Wyoming state record over the weekend with a humongous 2,085-pound pumpkin. However, they thought their giant may be in world-record territory, so were “disappointed" their pumpkin had lied to them until it was on the scale.

Cheyenne Man Breaks Wyoming State Record With 2,085-Pound Pumpkin

Cheyenne’s Andy and Amy Corbin broke Wyoming’s state record for the heaviest pumpkin on Saturday with a massive 2,085-pound pumpkin. They were actually disappointed in the result, as they thought the pumpkin was encroaching on world-record territory.

Andrew RossiOctober 06, 2025

The 2B Ranch was one of the neighboring ranches to the haunted Rech Cabin. It is believed that the small clapboard shack was haunted by the ghost of a woman who starved to death after her husband left her at their homestead and a storm blew in.

Haunted Wyoming: The Mysterious Sandwich-Eating Ghost At Bridger Creek In The Big Horn Basin

In the remote Big Horn Basin, cowboys and locals tell of a spooky legend involving a woman’s ghost, eerie lights, and mysterious happenings at the infamous Rech Cabin, where history and the supernatural collide.

Jackie DorothyOctober 05, 2025

Helen Janssen, from left, Elizabeth "Betty" Stimac, Richard Blossom and Virginia Toews are four of 20 centenarians honored by Montana last week.

How To Make It To 100 Years Old? "Don't Even Think About Retirement"

The state of Montana recently celebrated 20 living centenarians, and four of them revealed what everyone wants to know: what’s their secret? It’s simple, they agreed: walk a mile a day and “don’t even think about retirement."

Anna-Louise JacksonOctober 05, 2025

Cheyenne native Sydney Kapp on the fourth season of "The Floor." Kapp was one of two Wyomingites selected for the "America Duels" season, focusing on United States trivia and history.

Cheyenne Native Representing Wyoming On Rob Lowe's Trivia Game Show 'The Floor'

Sydney Kapp is one of two Wyomingites on the fourth season of "The Floor," a game show hosted by Rob Lowe where 100 contestants duel each other in a trivia battle. “You duel until there’s only one contestant left,” she told Cowboy State Daily.

Andrew RossiOctober 05, 2025

Mike “Moose” Dabich at home in Hudson, Wyoming. From crashing through doors in tiny Hudson, Wyoming, to battling basketball legends Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell on the court, Dabich’s life journey is a slam dunk of grit, humor and mountain-sized memories.

The Challenging And Charmed Basketball Life Of Hudson’s Mike “Moose” Dabich

From crashing through doors in tiny Hudson, Wyoming, to battling basketball legends Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell to snatching a gun pointed at Doug Moe, Mike “Moose” Dabich’s life journey is a slam dunk of grit, humor and mountain-sized memories.

David MadisonOctober 05, 2025

Chad Kurtenbach’s 1,788-pound pumpkin, topped with an 88-pound marrow, is lifted into the air at the 2025 Wyoming Weigh-Off and Pumpkin Drop in Worland. The pumpkin dropped from 200 feet as the climactic end to this year's event.

1,800-Pound Pumpkin Dropped From 200-Foot Crane, Destroys Outhouse

A 1,788-pound pumpkin was dropped on an outhouse from a 200-foot crane on Saturday at the Wyoming State Pumpkin Championship in Worland on Saturday. “You can’t get more redneck than pumpkins, an outhouse, and a 200-foot crane,” Wyoming pumpkin king Jay Richard said.

Andrew RossiOctober 05, 2025

Terri Craft pauses in the doorway beneath Bee Healthy, her health food store. While upstairs is alive with activity, the basement is seldom visited but it is alive with remnants of the past, including an abandoned tunnel that is believed to have been dug during Prohibition when the building was a former saloon and boarding house.

Haunted Wyoming: Locals Say Spirits Are Restless In Worland's Bootlegger Tunnels

When Worland business owners reported intruders in their locked basement, police found no one — but they also heard sounds in the bootlegger tunnels beneath the town. Locals swear spirits are still restless in the tunnels.

Jackie DorothyOctober 04, 2025

When His Pilot Died Mid-Flight, Wyoming Attorney General Had To Take The Controls

Wyoming Attorney General James “Jim” Barrett was flying to a conference in Riverton in 1969 when his pilot died mid-flight. Not a pilot himself, Barrett had to take the controls. He buzzed Rawlins at 230 mph, crash-landed the plane and survived.

Dale KillingbeckOctober 04, 2025

Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day is spending nine days in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the ultimate weather authority for the 2025 Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. With more than 600 balloons, it's the largest event of its kind in the world.

World’s Largest Hot-Air Balloon Fest Relies On Don Day’s Weather Forecasts

Wyoming meteorologist Don Day's official title for the next nine days is "chief of weather" at the annual balloon festival in Albuquerque, the largest in the world. Although he claims he can't control the weather, he is responsible for briefing the 600+ pilots on weather conditions.

Andrew RossiOctober 04, 2025

Erin Galloway, the new solo face of the hit social media series “Our Wyoming Life,” depends on her two teammates — Jeff Lake and Martha Larson — to pull off feats like the recent annual squash harvest.

It's Her Wyoming Life: The Now-Solo Face Of State's Largest Ag YouTube Channel

Erin Galloway took over the popular Our Wyoming Life YouTube channel from her ex-husband in 2024 and continues to grow it into an influential voice for Wyoming agriculture. Oh, and she's also raising three kids and running a cattle operation.

David MadisonOctober 04, 2025