Wyoming Life

In March 1908, the Thomas Flyer was the first car in the New York to Paris auto race to arrive at the frontier town of Cheyenne, Wyoming. They were greeted with much fanfare and teased about their sheep herder coats which were not typical automobilists attire. The three-man team were escorted into the city and then headed straight for bed.

Wyoming History: How Wyoming Almost Derailed The Great Auto Race Of 1908

The eyes of the world were on automobile teams racing across America as the first challenge in a 22,000-mile race from New York to Paris. It was almost derailed in Wyoming when an Italian team was waylaid by a pack of 50 wolves.

Jackie DorothyNovember 02, 2025

Rawlins gas station clerk Teresa Wood tries Dubai chocolate for the first time, and she's not a fan.

Why Are People Paying $25 For Chocolate Bars In Wyoming Gas Stations?

Dubai chocolate bars are all the rage, selling for $25 to $40 at stores at Wyoming gas stations and retail stores. Are they worth it? Fans say those convenience store knockoffs aren’t, but the real deal from Dubai is.

Renée JeanNovember 02, 2025

Matt Child from Sheridan poses with Steve Jolly, a minister in El Paso who started the Rio Bravo jiujitsu program.

Wyoming Gym Pairs Jiujitsu And Jesus For Kids In Mexico

Members of a Sheridan gym believe Jesus and jiu-jitsu are the right combination to help kids in Juarez, Mexico. They just returned from their latest trip and grateful that more than 100 youngsters across the border now know their names.

Dale KillingbeckNovember 02, 2025

Projectionist To Producer: Wyoming Man Brings Cold War To Screen In ‘Reykjavik'

Carl Beyer fell in love with movies working the projectors in a Powell movie theater and became a Hollywood producer. Now he’s bringing a historic Ronald Reagan - Mikhail Gorbachev Cold War nuclear showdown to the screen in his new project, "Reykjavik."

David MadisonNovember 02, 2025

The University of Wyoming offers a Master of Science degree in artificial intelligence, describing the field as “rapidly transforming society."

Wyoming’s Artificial Intelligence Challenge: Make It Work For People, Not Other Way Around

At the University of Wyoming, Artificial Intelligence is being embraced as a new tech revolution that can work for people, not the other way around — and not just a way to cheat on exams.

David MadisonNovember 02, 2025

New research has identified a dinosaur "mummy zone" in a series of ravines near Lusk, Wyoming, that’s produced two mummies of a fleshy dinosaur with back spikes and hooves. Scientists are excited for the possibility of finding a preserved T. rex mummy.

Newly Designated Wyoming Dinosaur ‘Mummy Zone’ Could Hold A Perfect T. Rex

New research has identified a dinosaur "mummy zone" in a series of ravines near Lusk, Wyoming. It's produced two mummies of a fleshy dinosaur with back spikes and hooves and scientists believe they could find a mummy of a preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Andrew RossiNovember 02, 2025

A year ago, the historic Bell Building in Downtown Cheyenne was boarded up. Now the 1911 building has a new facade and is on its way to again being a capital city showpiece.

Cheyenne’s Historic Downtown Bell Building Was Boarded Up, Now It’s Becoming A Showpiece

For decades, the historic Bell Building in Downtown Cheyenne was boarded up and had little hope for a future. Now, against all odds, the 1911 building has a new facade and is on its way to again being a capital city showpiece.

Renée JeanNovember 01, 2025

A mysterious masked rider terrorized the Laramie Peak area around Wheatland in 1930, targeting rustlers and a man three times because he hated the man’s red hair. Turns out, the redhead was the vigilante and shot himself to throw off the law.

Wyoming History: Wheatland Terrorized In 1930 By Masked "Phantom Rider"

As 1930 dawned, bringing in the Great Depression and a decade of lawlessness spawning the likes of Machine Gun Kelley, Alvin Karpis and John Dillinger, a masked man rode hard around Wheatland and was a masked savior to some, a bandit to others.

Dale KillingbeckNovember 01, 2025

Bryan Pedersen, chair of the Wyoming Combat Sports Commission, has drafted the nation's first regulatory framework for "synthetic combatants" — robots designed to compete in combat sports against each other or against human fighters.

Wyoming Ready To Be First State To Have Human Vs. Robot Combat Sports

When — not if — humans start competing against robots in combat sports, Wyoming is ready. The Wyoming Combat Sports Commission has already outlined the nation’s first rules for “synthetic combat." It's coming, they say. China just hosted the first World Humanoid Robot Games in August.

David MadisonNovember 01, 2025

C.J. Box Looking At Afton For Possible Next Joe Pickett Wyoming Mystery

Author C.J. Box told Cowboy State Daily that Afton is one of few places left in Wyoming where Joe Pickett hasn’t yet appeared in one of his novels. So Box will be traveling there in the near future with both an “open mind and an open notebook” to do some “poking around.”

Renée JeanNovember 01, 2025

In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt arrived in Cinnabar on his special train. The small town became known as the “Western White House” during the sixteen days the president was at Yellowstone National Park. Nine days after Roosevelt boarded his train and left, Cinnabar was abandoned. The railroad had diverted their train to the rival town of Gardiner and Cinnabar lost the tourists they depended on.

Haunted Wyoming: Spectral Train Still Runs Through Ghost Town Of Cinnabar

Each year, a spectral train is said to pull up to the Cinnabar Depot at the North Entrance of Yellowstone National Park. But Cinnabar is a ghost town, abandoned more than 120 years ago — and the train tracks have long been pulled up.

Jackie DorothyOctober 31, 2025

Snake River and Teton Range Sunset by Dave Bell

Daylight Saving Time Ends Sunday; Should Wyoming 'Fall Back And Stay'?

Clocks "fall back” at 2 a.m. Sunday when daylight saving time ends, and many Wyomingites are tired of the twice yearly yo-yo of leaping forward, then back again. Many want the U.S. to "fall back and stay back,” adopting permanent standard time year-round.

Andrew RossiOctober 31, 2025

Cheyenne LA Dodgers Superfan Makes Dream World Series Trip — Then They Lose Twice

After nearly losing his life last year, Glen Chavez has a new you-only-live-once philosophy. That led the Cheyenne L.A. Dodgers superfan to make a sudden dream World Series trip this week — to watch them lose twice.

Zakary SonntagOctober 30, 2025

Zero is one of more than 100 animals rescued from a hoarder earlier in October, and seems to be having no issues adapting to his new home with the Clayton Harward-Willmer family.

Finding Homes For 100+ Hoarded Animals A Huge Effort For Cheyenne Shelter

After escaping reportedly horrific hoarding conditions, more than 100 Cheyenne animals are finding new homes. Their personalities are changing, and so are their names, as animal shelter staff work to pair them with new families.

Jackson WalkerOctober 30, 2025

Fireworks After Touchdowns Triggers PTSD In Thermopolis Veterans

Fireworks were blasted off after every touchdown the Hot Springs High School football team scored in last week’s regular season finale. Problem is, nobody told local military veterans, triggering PTSD symptoms for some.

Andrew RossiOctober 30, 2025

Kai Montoya in his skeleton outfit for Halloween. He was born with complex congenital heart disease and has his feeding tube placed when he was 21 days old.

Meet Kai, The Laramie 2-Year-Old Who Doesn’t Want Candy On Halloween

Meet Kai Montoya, a 2-year-old Laramie boy who loves Halloween and wearing his skeleton costume. He also is fed through a tube after heart surgery at birth, which means he doesn’t want candy — but he’s thrilled with pencils, stickers, and other toys.

Dale KillingbeckOctober 30, 2025

8 Months After Fatal 26-Vehicle Crash, Westbound Green River Tunnel Reopens

Much to the relief of folks in Green River, the westbound Green River Tunnel reopened to traffic on Wednesday. It comes more than eight months after a fiery and fatal 26-vehicle crash burned and damaged it.

Scott SchwebkeOctober 29, 2025

In the 1900s in Saratoga, women in an upper-class household, such as the Saratoga woman in this photo, were frightened by unexplained bumps in the night. The men tried to explain away the thumping by saying that the servant girl was bumping her head against her headboard each night when the clock chimed the half-hour. Reports do not say if the women believed this explanation.

Haunted Wyoming: The Headless Woman Of Cheyenne, And Other Terrifying Tales

Young women working the steam laundry in West Cheyenne were terrified by a headless woman who haunted their way to work. As bone-chilling as that was, sometimes the truth is even more bizarre.

Jackie DorothyOctober 29, 2025

A Halloween display in Thermopolis. Trick-or-treaters approaching this home won't have to be scared of the weather, as the forecast for Halloween calls for above-average but still chilly temperatures that evening.

Trick-Or-Treaters Can Load Up: No Snow, Bone-Chilling Wind Expected For Halloween

Some places in Wyoming usually get more snow on Halloween than on Christmas, but not this year. The not-so-frightening forecast for All Hallows' Eve calls for temperatures in the 40s and 50s, no precipitation, and no howling winds.

Andrew RossiOctober 29, 2025

‘Black Cat Bias’: Even At Halloween, Wyoming Shelters Can’t Find Homes For Them

“Black cat bias” is a real thing that keeps them from being adopted from Wyoming animal shelters — even during the Halloween season. Despite their reputation, shelter workers say black cats aren’t witches in disguise or bring bad luck.

Andrew RossiOctober 28, 2025

Haunted Wyoming: The Ghost Of St. Mark's Church

What to do when your buddy falls 100 feet to his death while building Wyoming's first church? Stuff him in the wall and hope no one notices...

Jimmy OrrOctober 28, 2025

Wyoming Halloween Superfans Turn Neighborhoods Into Over-The-Top Scare-Fests

Go big at home seems to be the motto of Wyoming’s Halloween superfans, who turn neighborhoods into over-the-top scare-fest. From giant skeletons to immersive animatronic displays, they’re making Halloween great again.

Renée JeanOctober 28, 2025

Big Boy 4014 makes the first stop on its 2024 summer tour in Laramie, Wyoming, on Sunday morning, June 30, 2024. Hundreds of curious people and serious train buffs waited for more than two hours to get a good viewing spot.,

Big Boy 4014 May Make Its First Coast-To-Coast Run For America’s 250th

Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena says he wants the world’s heaviest operational steam locomotive — Big Boy 4014 — to make its first coast-to-coast tour for America’s 250th anniversary next year. Big Boy has never been to the East Coast since rolling off the assembly line in 1941.

Renée JeanOctober 27, 2025

The Historic Irma hotel was built in 1902 and has retained much of its original structure, including the stone work. These rooms are believed to have been so comfortable, that some guests have never left.

Haunted Wyoming: Some Guests Still Haunt Cody’s Famous Irma Hotel

Buffalo Bill’s famous Irma Hotel has been a destination for more than 120 years. It’s even popular with guests who never really checked out, like the well-dressed gentleman who keeps showing up at the restaurant, or the soldier who shot up Room 35 in 1912.

Jackie DorothyOctober 27, 2025

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