Contributors

Wyoming History: That Time A Yellowstone Park Ranger Lassoed Polar Bears
Carl Dunrud steadied himself against the small schooner. It was 1926 and the Yellowstone Park ranger and Wyoming cowboy had a lasso ready as he eyed his target. Looking back at him was a polar bear swimming in the cold Arctic Sea.
Jackie DorothyJune 21, 2025

Wyoming History: ‘The Cheyenne Kid’ Muggsy Schoel Was Boxing Champ In Early 1900s
Wyoming’s “Muggsy” Schoel fought some of the biggest names in professional boxing including the lightweight champion of the world in 1909. Also known as “The Cheyenne Kid,” he was the featherweight champion of the West before he was 20 and fought his last fight when he was 50.
Dale KillingbeckJune 21, 2025

Wyoming History: Outlaw Walt Punteney Was Cattle Rustler, Bank Robber, Heck Of A Nice Guy
Walt Punteney was a well-known member of the notorious Wild Bunch outlaw gang. He rustled cattle, robbed banks and was cheerful and a heck of a nice guy. He also built a saloon which eventually became the popular Cowboy Bar in Pinedale.
Jackie DorothyJune 15, 2025

Wyoming History: How The Custer Wolf Got The Best Of A Famed Outlaw Hunter
Wyoming’s premier hunter “High Powered” Williams, who had once bested a Hole-in-the-Wall gang member, finally met his match in the 1920s. But it wasn’t another outlaw, it was the notorious Custer wolf that was terrorizing the countryside.
Jackie DorothyJune 08, 2025

Wyoming History: 1927 Kelly Flood Killed 6, Washed Out 75 Buildings
Millions of tons of debris collapsed off Sheep Mountain in Teton County into the Gros Ventre River 100 years ago, creating a new lake. Two years later, the dam breached, flooding the town of Kelly — killing six and washing out 75 buildings.
Dale KillingbeckMay 31, 2025
Wyoming History: In 1930s-40s, United Made Cheyenne The ‘Air Capital Of The West’
In the 1930s and 1940s, United Airlines made Cheyenne its hub for maintenance, research and training, even making the city the “air capital of the West.” But in 1961, the last of the airline’s ties to the city took off for the last time.
Dale KillingbeckMay 04, 2025

The American West: The Black Hawk War In Utah
The longest, bloodiest war between Indians and Mormon settlers in Utah saw fighting and killing in some 150 skirmishes spread across much of the territory for years. The Ute who led the fighting was Black Hawk, and it became his war.
R.B. MillerMay 02, 2025

Isabel Jewell: Shoshoni, Wyoming’s Hard-Boiled, Tough-Talking Actress
Shoshoni, Wyoming's Isabel Jewell was usually typecast as a hard-boiled, tough-talking broad, gangster's moll, dumb blonde, prostitute, and is known for her poor "white trash" role as Emmy Slattery in “Gone with the Wind.”
Jackie DorothyApril 27, 2025

The American West: Paul Miller Turns Inheritance Into A Freighting Operation
A freighter with a bull team consisting of five oxen, Paul Miller hauled on the Sidney-Deadwood Trail and across South Dakota, carrying everything from mining equipment to beans.
Peggy SandersApril 26, 2025

The American West: A Tale Of Two Colorado Cattle Empires
John Wesley Prowers built the largest cattle ranch in southern Colorado while John Wesley Iliff created his own cattle empire in northeastern Colorado. Both John Wesleys were honest, pioneering men, and very determined.
Linda WommackApril 25, 2025

American West: Wyoming's Earl Durand, The Last Outlaw
The last of the true mountain men, Cody's Earl Durand made his own law. Unwilling to give in to a rapidly changing world that abandoned the ways of the past, Durand fought an inevitable future, until a bank robbery did him in.
Kellen CutsforthApril 24, 2025

The American West: Medicine Water Leader of the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers
Medicine Water became the leader of the Cheyenne Bowstring Warrior Society, commonly known as the Dog Soldiers. With his wife Mo-chi and the Dog Soldiers he set out to preserve the culture and traditions, and the territory for the Cheyenne people.
Linda WommackApril 23, 2025