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Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Jackie Dorothy.
Writer

Jackie Dorothy

Jackie Dorothy is a reporter for Cowboy State Daily based in central Wyoming.

Over the past 20 years, Jackie has worked in television, radio and print across Wyoming. In this role, she has won numerous writing and history awards including the Wyoming Governor’s Journalist of the Year and SBA Journalist of the Year.

Jackie is also the podcast host of ‘Pioneers of Outlaw Country’ that explores little known historical stories of Wyoming with entertaining narrative.

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Latest from Jackie Dorothy

A young woman is said to gallop along the Oregon Trail near Fort Laramie every seven years since 1872, disappearing before anyone can catch her.

The Galloping 'Laramie Ghost' Has Haunted The Oregon Trail For 154 Years

A young woman is said to gallop along the Oregon Trail near Fort Laramie every seven years since 1872, disappearing before anyone can catch her. The legend of the Laramie Ghost grew among the Indians and traders, and she's still riding.

Jackie DorothyOctober 25, 2026

Before moving to Thermopolis, Cozette Medill-Matthews grew up on a quiet street in Denver. When she was 9 years old, that was all changed when Interstate 25, then known as “Valley Highway” was built literally in her backyard. Her neighborhood was condemned and promptly demolished  to make way for the highway.

Thermopolis Woman Remembers When Her Denver Neighborhood Was Flattened For I-25

Thermopolis resident Cozette Medill-Matthews was 9 when her family's Denver neighborhood and many others were flattened to build what is now I-25, displacing 15,000 people. She remembers when men arrived to tell them their lives were about to change.

Jackie DorothyOctober 24, 2026

In the mining camp of Hartville (pictured), men took the custom of sitting up all night next to a dead friend to the next level. While playing poker and enjoying a shot of whiskey, they’d make sure the dead man was included as part of his wake. Inset: Poker game from Wyoming State Archives

In Wyoming Mining Camps, Dead Men Would Play Poker And Smoke Cigars

In the event someone died at a mining camp — and out of fear that one could be buried alive — miners would stay up with their dead friend overnight. That included, sitting them up and playing poker. The corpse’s winnings would defray funeral expenses.

Jackie DorothyOctober 17, 2026

During his years as a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer on the Wind River Reservation, Leslie Shakespeare had encounters with strange lights, people that weren’t supposed to be there and sounds he couldn’t explain. 

Apparitions, Lights And Ghost Soldier: Wind River Cop Says Rez Is Plenty Scary

Leslie Shakespeare saw some unexplainable things as a cop on the Wind River Reservation, including strange lights guiding him, apparitions and a ghost soldier. “I got a cold feeling that wasn’t from the temperature,” he said of his first case, a murder.

Jackie DorothyOctober 17, 2026

Red rocks and hanging tree 10 17 26

Wyoming History: Slim And Quick’s Terrifying Night Sleeping Under A Hanging Tree

A pair of Indian hunters named Slim and Quick weren’t afraid of much, but were terrified the night they unknowingly fell asleep under a hanging tree — and awoke to corpses dangling over them.

Jackie DorothyOctober 17, 2026

Ella Randol, an employee at the Cowboy Bar & Cafe, claims that the bar in Meeteetse is haunted by three spirits. The most dominant spirit is a woman that Randol believes is Sylvia Mikkelson, a founder of Meeteetse who once ran a dry goods store on the same block the Cowboy Bar & Cafe is on now.

Sylvia Came To Meeteetse In 1898, And Cowboy Bar Patrons Say She's Never Left

The ghost of Sylvia Mikkelsen, who ran the Meeteetse dry-goods store in the early 1900s has never left, say Cowboy Bar patrons. Bartender Ella Randol, who says she has spoken with Sylvia, says whenever anyone gets unruly, things get bone-chilling cold.

Jackie DorothyOctober 12, 2026

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