Wyoming Life | Cowboy State Daily

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

Music has been Mandie Asay's life and her instrument an angelic voice. She's spent 20 years sharing a passion for music with her Cowley, Wyoming, students. Recently near death with a tube in her throat, Mandie had one question: "Can I sing?"

Near Death, Beloved Cowley Music Teacher Has One Question: 'Can I Sing?'

Music has been Mandie Asay's life and her instrument is her voice. She's spent 20 years sharing a passion for music with her Cowley, Wyoming, students. Recently, near death with a tube in her throat, Mandie had one question: "Can I sing?"

Dale KillingbeckOctober 04, 2025

Many of the insects Aaron Clark finds on his ranch with the help of Allie Hazen are very small. The vial Clark is holding up contains a dozen or so specimens.

Wyoming’s Insect Cowboy Has Discovered New Bugs That Are In The Smithsonian

Aaron Clark has a small cow-calf operation on a ranch near Wheatland. But what he likes to lasso most are insects, and he's discovered several new ones in Wyoming — and some are now in the Smithsonian.

Renée JeanSeptember 28, 2025

Virginia Broersma came from her studio in Los Angeles, California, for a three-week residency in Ucross, Wyoming. Artists from many different disciplines compete for the chance to practice their chosen art, from writing to composing, at the working ranch thanks to a program offered by the Ucross Foundation. Broersma was given an artist studio where she painted when she wasn’t hiking the property or enjoying the wide-open skies.

Artists From Around The World Compete For Coveted UCross Residency Program

Artists from around the world compete for coveted residency spots in tiny UCross, Wyoming. The town of 26 triples in size with the prestigious program, which has drawn American and international talent for 40 years.

Jackie DorothySeptember 28, 2025

Some modern history sleuths believe Butch Cassidy, right, died when he blew himself up with dynamite in 1900. Nope, says a prominent historan. That was Cassidy's cousin, Robert Parker Heap, left, not the infamous outlaw.

Wyoming History: A Counterfeit Butch Cassidy Blew Himself Up In Laramie In 1900

Some modern history sleuths say Butch Cassidy died when he blew himself up with dynamite in 1900. Nope, says a prominent historian. That was Cassidy's cousin, Robert Parker Heap, not the infamous outlaw, whose real name was Robert Parker.

Jackie DorothySeptember 28, 2025

Terri Geissinger holds up the 1976 National Geographic with the cover story by Robert Redford about his outlaw ride. In 1967, he first sat at the Hole-in-the-Wall bar that now resides at the Hot Springs County Museum. The first time Redford saw the bar, it was still being used in the Hole-in-the-Wall Bar, a saloon that had first opened in the 1890s and welcomed the local outlaws in.

Three Weeks And 600 Miles: Robert Redford’s True Adventure On The Outlaw Trail

Robert Redford’s love of the West, Wyoming and their notorious outlaws was well-known. It led him in 1976 to retrace 600 miles of The Outlaw Trail on horseback, by car and by boat over three weeks for National Geographic magazine.

Jackie DorothySeptember 28, 2025

Members of the Centennial Antique Tractor & Engine Club enjoy making their tractors look good. Then they take them for little adventures, like the recent tour of the Burnette Enterpises mega dairy near Carpenter.

They Think Their Tractors Are Sexy — And So Do Parade Crowds

The Centennial Antique Engine & Tractor Club is a group of people in southeastern Wyoming and northern Colorado who have one thing in common — they love vintage farm equipment. Especially tractors, which they think are pretty sexy.

Renée JeanSeptember 27, 2025

Crayton smiles at all the photographs and memories, hangin got the walls at the Sheridan Foster Care Exchange.

She Was A Foster Kid, Now Sheridan Woman Is On A Mission To Make The System Better

After her own difficulties as a foster kid, Carla Crayton has vowed to make sure other children don't have the same experiences. The Sheridan woman has built a nonprofit dedicated to her mission of making the system better for kids and foster parents.

Renée JeanSeptember 27, 2025

Officially, Riverton is run by its elected City Council. But a lot of this central Wyoming town’s problems are addressed by a bunch of old guys who meet weekly in Scotty Ratliff’s kitchen.

Wyoming Coffee Klatch: Scotty Ratliff’s Kitchen Is Where World Problems Are Solved

Officially, Riverton is run by its elected city council. But the town's problems, and all the world's problems, are really solved by this group of old guys in Scotty Ratliff's coffee klatch.

Jackie DorothySeptember 27, 2025

After vanishing over the Pacific in 1942, Sgt. Thomas Cotner was presumed lost forever. Now a researcher's discovery in a remote New Guinea jungle has revealed the sacrifice of a young Casper, Wyoming, man who flew directly into the teeth of war.

Missing Wyoming WWII Vet’s B-17 Bomber Discovered In New Guinea Jungle

After vanishing over the Pacific in 1942, Sgt. Thomas Cotner of Casper was presumed lost forever. Now eight decades later, wreckage of the B-17 Flying Fortress where Tom served as a radio operator and gunner was discovered.

David MadisonSeptember 27, 2025

About 600 people showed up in Franklin, Indiana, for Wyoming author C.J. Box and the release of his new Joe Pickett novel "Battle Mountain," which is No. 1 on The New York Times list of bestsellers.

‘Two Worlds Collide’: CJ Box Says Cassie Dewell To Show Up In Joe Pickett Novel

As fans of CJ Box’s mystery-solving game warden Joe Pickett count down the days until the release of his 26th adventure, the Wyoming author dropped a bombshell Wednesday: Cassie Dewell and Pickett are going to cross paths.

Greg JohnsonSeptember 24, 2025

Clay Gibbons talks about the gangs that inhabited the Hole in the Wall during a 2024 tour. Wyoming’s infamous Wild West outlaw culture has inspired a documentary filmmaker to feature the Hole in the Wall hideout. He uses Wyoming voices to tell the story of the infamous outlaw outpost.

Hole In The Wall Film Uses Wyoming Voices To Tell Story Of Infamous Outlaw Hideout

Wyoming’s infamous Wild West outlaw culture has inspired a documentary filmmaker to feature the Hole in the Wall hideout. He uses Wyoming voices to tell the story of the infamous outlaw outpost.

Renée JeanSeptember 21, 2025

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