In this episode of Pioneers of Outlaw Country, we travel back to the vanished railroad town of Cinnabar, once the bustling gateway to Yellowstone National Park. 

Born overnight as a frontier depot and abandoned just as quickly, Cinnabar was a place of wild saloons, hurried fortunes, presidential boredom, and a railroad that determined its fate. When the tracks moved on, the town vanished—but some say the train never did.

 Ghost Town Of Yellowstone: Cinnabar

I first heard of Cinnabar when I read “Yellowstone Ghost Stories: Spooky Tales From the World’s First National Park” by Shellie Larios. She shared the story of a spectral train which would pull up once a year to a town that was no longer there.

As I dug deeper into the story, I discovered that Cinnabar had quite the wild past! Join me as we explore this frontier night that sprang up in a night - and disappeared just as suddenly! For more information, I would suggest visiting Geyser Bob’s website! 

This story first appeared on Cowboy State Daily on October 30, 2025 titled: Haunted Wyoming: Spectral Train Still Runs Through Ghost Town of Cinnabar. 

This series of haunted Wyoming history is brought to you by Rooted in Legacy! Helping you preserve your own stories for future generations. 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Deep beneath Wyoming’s mountains, where daylight disappears and superstition takes hold, miners swore they were not alone. In the darkness of coal shafts and gold tunnels, ghosts whispered warnings, phantom animals stalked the living, and illusions led men to sudden death.

 In this episode of Pioneers of Outlaw Country, we descend into Wyoming’s haunted mines—where an apparition of lost love guided a prospector to a fortune, but other spirits brought terror instead of treasure. 

From Tommy Knockers tapping in the walls, to a ghost mule that attacked without warning, to a phantom elevator cage that sent seasoned miners plunging to their deaths, these are not legends passed down by campfire—they are documented articles recorded in newspapers and firsthand accounts from the men who worked underground.

I found these stories of the underground apparitions in old Wyoming newspapers and in a “A Year In A Coal Mine” by Joseph Husband. I highly recommend this book if you want to know what life was like in the early 1910’s of coal mining! 

This podcast was written and produced by me, Jackie Dorothy, your host and Wyoming historian! The original story was published on Cowboy State Daily on October 25, 2025, Haunted Wyoming: Plenty of Ore - And Angry Spirits - In State’s Historic Mines. 

You will find on this episode an eclectic collection of true sightings deep within the earth. To me, the most haunting story is the ‘ghost cage’ and the most entertaining is the old prospector's lost love. 

Drop me a note or better yet, sign up to spend thirty minutes with me talking history! I am offering a free discovery call with Rooted in Legacy, where we help you record, write, and preserve your life story, memoir, and family history—so your story is never lost.

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

In the wilds of Wyoming territory, near present-day Newcastle, Alfred Nelson decided to celebrate Christmas by showing his sons want the season was truly about. This father showed by his actions that he was not only a man of courage, but a strong man of faith that believed in the redemption of all and that no-one should be alone on Christmas, even outlaws.  

Join us this season as we step back into time when a man became Christmas friends with a small gang of outlaws in the Wyoming Territory. 

A note from Jackie Dorothy: 

This story was given to me by Drew Hester, the great-great-great grandson of Alfred Nelson just in time to share for the Christmas season. Alfred’s son, Dick, recorded this story and when I went to the newspaper record, I found that Buck Hanby was a fugitive from Kansas law in 1888 - just like Nelson said. 

This episode was brought to you by Rooted in Legacy, saving stories like these for the future generations! 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Visitors to the Old Faithful Inn whisper about a pale young woman who drifts down the long-abandoned Crow’s Nest, her white gown floating behind her… and her head tucked neatly under her arm. 

 Some say she’s a restless bride from a century-old murder. Others claims she’s just a story told by employees closing the inn for the winter. But every year, someone new insists they’ve seen her. 

 Tonight, we’re stepping into the flickering shadows of one of the most iconic lodges in Yellowstone National Park to uncover the legend of the Headless Bride – what’s fact, what’s fiction and why she refuses to disappear. 

This is Pioneers of Outlaw Country coming to you from Thermopolis, Wyoming! I am your host, Jackie Dorothy, and this series of Haunted Wyoming History is brought to you by Rooted in Legacy where we help you preserve your own history one story at a time! 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

The Legend of the Ghost in Red Flannel

Thank you for joining me, Jackie Dorothy, for another adventure in Wyoming’s past on Pioneers of Outlaw Country. Today, we take a peek at another mysterious guide that saved the life of a lost hunter. 

A young Wyoming hunter had became lost on Trapper Creek in the Bighorn Mountains in 1951. Just when things took a turn for the worse, a figure in a red flannel shirt appeared out of the thick fog to guide him back to camp before he mysteriously disappeared.

The hunter had told his story to Debra D. Munn, author of “Wyoming Ghost Stories” but asked to remain anonymous. He had kept his story secret decades and still had no answer for what had happened to him all those years ago. He just knew that it was real and not a tall tale despite what naysayers may try to say to the contrary. 

While researching this story, over 70 years later, I came across a 1932 article about another teenager who had been lost on Trapper Creek. The details were eerily similar but I will let you be the judge of the identity of the figure in red flannel! 

This episode has been brought to you by Rooted in Legacy, helping you to preserve your own family stories. Book your free call with me today! 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

In 1870, 52 year old Truman Everts, an unskilled Easterner, was lost in Yellowstone with only two knives and a pair of opera glasses. He was slowly starving to death as winter set in, his only food the roots of thistles. 

Then ghostly guides appeared to show him the way home.  

Join us on the misadventure of Truman Everts, a tax accessor who is remembered as an unlikely survivor. He leaves us Mount Everts and the Everts Thistly as his legacy. 

I am your host Jackie Dorothy and I’m inviting you into the wilds of Wyoming! This episode is brought to you by Rooted in Legacy, helping you to preserve your own family stories and legacy! Book your discovery call today at www.legendrockmedia.com. 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

The Fountain Hotel was shrouded in mystery. It was the fanciest resort in Yellowstone, but not all their guests checked out. 

 Newspapers across the nation carried the story about the millionaire’s missing heir. Park security investigated a mysterious bell that rang for service in an empty room. A party of motorists who just vanished perplexed people for decades. 

Park rangers and guests alike were pleased when the luxury hotel was torn down in 1927, taking with it its ghosts.

I am your host, Jackie Dorothy, and this is a true ghost story that first ran in Cowboy State Daily. 

Nothing remains of the Fountain Hotel, a playground for the rich, except for the mystery of its missing guests. Join us as we explore three separate stories of disappearing tourists! 

This episode is brought to you by Rooted in Legacy! Book your free discovery call today to start preserving your own stories and family legends!

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

High in the Absaroka Mountains lies the ghost town of Kirwin — a place built on promise, gold, and fear.

Once the most modern mining town in Wyoming, Kirwin boasted electricity, telephones, and two-story homes in the wilderness. But after a deadly avalanche struck in 1907, the people fled… leaving everything behind — furniture, tools, even their dreams.

Or did they?

Over a century later, visitors still claim to hear voices as if the town itself refuses to die. Journalists reported that it wasn’t nature that chased the miners from their rich claims, but a premonition of doom. 

This episode is brought to you by Rooted in Legacy, helping you preserve your stories for the future!  Book your free session today at legendrockmedia.com 

Hosted by Jackie Dorothy and Dean King, this is a production of Legend Rock Media in Thermopolis, Wyoming 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

High in the Rattlesnake Range above Casper, Wyoming, a legend rides the wind. He is a ghostly white stallion known as The White Devil. 

In the 1800s, this spectral horse was said to protect his herds of wild mustangs from any cowboy who dared to rope them. Fierce, untamed, and impossible to catch, he became more than a horse. The White Devil was a warning.

Even today, locals whisper that the White Devil still roams those rocky hills, a restless spirit of the Wyoming frontier, guarding his herd and haunting anyone who crosses his path.

White Devil's story was discovered buried in the Wyoming newspapers from the late 1800s. He refuses to be forgotten! 

This episode of Pioneers of Outlaw Country: Wyoming History is brought to you by Rooted in Legacy, helping listeners like you preserve your own family history and wild youth! Book a free session today at www.legendrockmedia.com!

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

In 1866, danger haunted every mile of the Bozeman Trail. Red Cloud and his Sioux warriors were at war, defending their homeland against broken treaties and encroaching forts. 

Soldiers rode under constant threat, their lives hanging by a thread in the lonely stretches between outposts.

Into this peril walked Private Dave Duck, carrying an urgent dispatch through hostile country. Yet, when he reached Fort C. F. Smith, the men there met him not with relief but with disbelief.

That was because Dave Duck had already been buried.

Join us along the Bozeman Trail, where the Red Cloud War rages... and the dead sometimes walk beside the living.

This ride down Dead Man’s Trail is brought to you by Rooted in Legacy — helping you capture your own stories before they fade like dust on the Wyoming wind. Learn more at https://legendrockmedia.com. 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

They say justice never rests—but neither does Tom Horn. 

 After the infamous gunslinger swung from the gallows inside the Laramie County Jail on November 20, 1903, the prisoners left behind began to hear things: the creak of the trapdoor, the sinister sound of running water from the “suicide gallows,” and a calm, steady voice saying, “Are you ready?” 

 Even after his death, prisoners swore Horn was still there with them, slowly pacing his cell and professing his innocence of murdering a 14-year-old boy. Each night, they could hear him being brought to the gallows as they listened from their own dark cells.  

 On Pioneers of Outlaw Country, we step inside those cold Cheyenne walls to uncover the haunting of Tom Horn—the outlaw who refused to die quietly.

This Wyoming ghost story is brought to you by Rooted in Legacy because even the ghosts of the past have stories worth telling.

We help you preserve your stories that matter most—from your family memories to your personal history. Through one-on-one coaching and guided storytelling, we will turn those memories into a legacy that is lasting and unforgettable.

Book your free discovery call at LegendRockMedia.com
—or follow the link in the show notes.

Thank you for stopping by! I am Jackie Dorothy, Wyoming historian and storyteller. 

This show was made possible by John Charles Thompson, a young reporter at the 1903 Cheyenne Daily Reader. He was present when Tom Horn was hung inside the jail and then wrote about the haunting of the Laramie County jail after Horn’s death. Thompson has helped preserve Wyoming’s history! 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Three times, early pioneers of Wyoming have been said to have seen an ancient ship of death. This fully crewed ship came like the mist, sailing down the Platte River near the present day city of Casper.

This ship brought with it a horrifying vision to all who saw the spectral vision. 

This ghost story has connections to the Bermuda Triangle and an infamous author, Vincent Gaddis. The more I learned of him, the more horrified I personally became! 

Be prepared to scream! 

This special episode of Haunted Wyoming History is brought to you by Rooted in Legacy, a memoir coaching business. Helping you preserve your own stories.

The Ship of Death first appeared in Cowboy State Daily on October 13, 2024, written by yours truly, Jackie Dorothy. I’m pleased to bring it to you with audio dramatization. I’m also proud to announce -  there is no AI used in this production! 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

The Twilight Zone In Chugwater, Wyoming

Caught in a blizzard, three people sought shelter and found much more than they bargained for as they entered the twilight zone in Chugwater, Wyoming.

Welcome to Season 4 of the Pioneers of Outlaw Country. I am your host Jackie Dorothy and we are about to embark on a spooky journey across Wyoming. This is the most terrifying season yet as we explore the haunted history of the Equality State! 

On this journey, we welcome to the Twilight Zone Restaurant.

Debra D. Munn researched this tale for her book, “Wyoming Ghost Stories, Eerie True Tales.” It was one of the most baffling supernatural occurrences that took place in Wyoming on March 1959. 

I did further research and discovered newspaper stories from the 1920s that matched the strange story the three people had shared. Just a coincidence? I will let you be the judge!

This tale and my own research first appeared in Cowboy State Daily on October 13, 2024 and I am pleased to share it again with you! 

These episodes of Haunted Wyoming History are brought to you by Rooted in Legacy, my memoir coaching business. 

If you’ve been wanting to preserve those family stories but didn’t know where to start, I’d love to help. My website is legendrockmedia.com or just follow this link to schedule a free call with me, personally. 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Yellowstone’s Battle Against the Automobile

Getting to Yellowstone National Park in the early days of the automobile was no simple task. Adventurous drivers believed it was possible, but first, two big hurdles stood in their way: building safe roads through the rugged Cowboy State and convincing the Park Service to even allow cars past the gates.

One determined driver crashed the gate going 25 mph and the mounted soldiers gave chase! The war to get automobile’s into Yellowstone had started!

Once permission was given, we have first hand accounts of what the Yellowstone National Park was like when it first allowed the contraptions legally beyond its gate.

This concludes our series along the Wind River Canyon Scenic By-Way, celebrating 100 years of this route to Yellowstone!  

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Dangerous Work: Building the Yellowstone Highway 

Blasting a road through Wyoming’s Wind River Canyon in the 1920s was like chiseling a trail into the jaws of a granite beast—complete with dynamite, sheer cliffs, and the constant threat of falling into a roaring river. It took guts, grit, and more than a few prayers to carve tunnels and hang a highway from canyon walls that soared thousands of feet above the brave souls below!

It’s a story of blasting rock, battling floods, and threading a road through a canyon so tight and twisted, the river barely had room to run, let alone a Ford Model T! This is the story of building the Wind River Canyon Highway.

Before there was a road, there was only a dream. A dream of connecting the Big Horn Basin — a rich empire of agriculture, coal, and oil — with the rest of Wyoming. But standing in the way was the Owl Creek Range, a granite wall that had isolated northwestern Wyoming like an island in the sky.

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

The Good Roads Clubs in Wyoming were like the cheerleaders of the early highway system—rallying townsfolk, wrangling funds, and literally paving the way to Yellowstone National Park, turning bumpy wagon trails into smooth rides for motorists in their new fancy cars. 

As autos became all the rage even in rural Wyoming, so did the increased need for good highways. 

Across the Cowboy State, Good Roads Clubs were formed and led the way to build better highways. 

In 1915, it was announced that the Yellowstone National Park would allow automobiles into the park and the Good Roads Club rallied, demanding that a smooth highway be built to the park. They were prepared to do whatever necessary to get their good roads!

A thank you to our sponsor, the Wyoming Department of Transportation, who was charged with building this road to Yellowstone as one of their very first projects!  Celebrating 100 years of the Yellowstone Highway through the Wind River Canyon and looking forward to many more to come along Wyoming’s scenic highway!

Please be sure to join the conversation on Facebook! We talk all things Wyoming history on our group page, Pioneers of Outlaw Country. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/237783835417157

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Blasting Through The Wind River Canyon

Blazing a railroad through Wind River Canyon in the early 1900s was essentially hand-painting a snake’s skeleton—rugged crews, dynamite, burros, and sheer drops that would make a circus tightrope look tame. Those hardworking souls carved tunnels out of granite with picks, shovels, and sweat, all while exotic voices from Swedish, Italian, and Japanese laborers echoed between canyon walls.

Join us as we celebrate these hard working men - and donkeys - that laid track in one of Wyoming’s most remote and rugged canyon! 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

A gold rush in the Copper Mountains of Wyoming brought 2,000 miners into the area in 1906. By 1909, nearly everyone was gone. For just a brief moment in time, hopes of a rich strike even excited Wyoming Governor Brooks who boasted of the future success of Birdseye. 

But when the lead ran dry, the dreams turned to dust, and the camp faded into legend. 

 Join us as we explore the untold stories of the souls who worked and lost in this Wyoming frontier, where the echoes of the past still linger in every tumbleweed. Historian Jackie Dorothy uncovered stories of exploding cows, characters such as Deadwood Dick and more as businessmen and women tried to make their fortunes in this remote mining camp of Wyoming.

This episode continues the journey along the Wind River Canyon Scenic By-Way, a section of the Yellowstone Highway built in 1924. Years before the highway cut through the canyon, the route to Yellowstone National Park was to go over the canyon, through the mining camp of Birdseye. 

By 1909, the businesses and homes were abandoned and the mines closed. Only a dim memory lives on of this once vibrant mining town.

Brought to you in partnership with the Wyoming Department of Transportation. This is a production of Legend Rock Media with your hosts, Jackie Dorothy and Dean King.

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

The Bighorn River is a dangerous river in the Bighorn Basin and has claimed numerous lives in its depths. 

Lives were lost when high water would sweep away entire families. The ferries made crossing the dangerous Bighorn River safer - but even these ferries were perilous and dangerous. 

 These stories and more are featured in this special podcast as part of the tales along the Yellowstone Highway explaining the dangers Wyoming pioneers faced just trying to travel along the old routes of the Cowboy State. 

Over time, these old ferries were replaced with bridges - but even that effort took time and effort. 

Join us as we cross these dangerous rivers - in partnership with the Wyoming Department of Transportation who remind you to buckle up during your own journeys along Wyoming's historic highways. 

 The Pioneers of Outlaw Country. 

Cowboys, Lawmen and Outlaws… to the businessmen and women who all helped shape Wyoming. 

Here are their stories

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Welcome to a special edition of Pioneers of Outlaw Country. Today you are in for a treat. Grab your popcorn as we dive into an old-time radio show. 

As I was researching the stage routes of Wyoming, my internet searches kept directing me to the movie, Stagecoach. I admit I was a bit annoyed but then my curiosity got the best of me.  I finally listened to the radio dramatization of the movie - when I should have been researching, I admit!  Since I enjoyed it, I figured that many of you would, too. 

This is the radio adaptation of STAGECOACH, and was originally broadcast on January 9, 1949. The show stars John Wayne and Claire Trevor, reprising their film roles from the 1939 movie.

John Wayne as the Ringo Kid, Claire Trevor as Dallas and Ward Bond as Doc Boone. 

In 1885, the stagecoach was the only means of travel on the American frontier and in those days no name struck more dread into the hearts of travelers than Geronimo leader of the warlike Apache’s. Stagecoach is the story of a party of people who travelled from Tonto, Arizona to Lordsburgh, New Mexico by stagecoach. The passengers on the coach include the drunken Doc Boone, good-hearted prostitute Dallas, Lucy Mallory a pregnant woman, Hayward, a bank manager who has taken off with his client's money, and of course the famous Ringo Kid. 

Enjoy! - Jackie Dorothy 

With special thanks to the Wyoming Department of Transportation for sponsoring this special series that is celebrating 100 years of the Yellowstone Highway through the Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway! 

Remember to always buckle up on your adventures! 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Wrecks, highway robbery and rockslides awaited the stage coaches that dared venture over Birds Eye Pass. This dangerous stage line route was full of peril but despite the risks, the stage coach ran every day, except Sunday. 

Join us for a ride on this perilous route over the Wind River Canyon in Central Wyoming. There was no train or highway - only the rugged trail through Copper Mountain. 

This special edition of Pioneers of Outlaw Country celebrates the Yellowstone Highway through the Wind River Canyon by remembering why it was even built. It is a chance to experience the dangers the pioneers of Wyoming faced before the highway was built in 1924.

Brought to you by the Wyoming Department of Transportation and their Buckle Up Campaign! 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

When the mountain man brought the first mischievous mule into Wyoming he was unaware of the importance this stubborn, irritating critter would play in building the state. 

As we continue celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Yellowstone Highway through the Wind River Canyon, it would be a shame to overlook one of the hardest workers that helped bring in the modern age.

In between kicking up its heels and rolling in the mud, the mule helped build dams, railroads, highways and even brought electricity into the Wind River Canyon.

As a bonus, we share the story of one very mischievous mules named Gabriel who was saved from his antics by none other than Black Jack Pershing. His story was published in Wyoming papers in 1915. 

Special thanks to the Wyoming Department of Transportation who sponsored this series celebrating the Wind River Canyon Scenic By-Way and its rich history. Remember, Wyoming, to buckle up while enjoying your trip down this beautiful stretch of highway! 

Mule Train was sung by Frankie Laine in 1949. Johnny Curtis and the "Prairie Sons" was the muleskinner at the end. 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

16 skeletons, over an 80 year time span, were found along the banks of the Badwater Creek. 

Who were they and who murdered these people while Wyoming was still only a territory? 

Their stories were buried in old newspapers and were mysteries dating back to 1872. 

Three were found in a cave with bullet holes, twelve were soldiers found in an Aspen grove and the last was found in a burnt grave with five arrow heads. 

These mysteries may never be solved but I believe their stories should be remembered.

Step back into time when Wyoming was still a territory and it's citizens made horrifying discoveries along the bank of rural Badwater Creek.

One may even have returned to haunt the family who had disturbed her rest.

This episode was created in partnership with the Wyoming Department of Transportation reminding you to "Buckle up, Wyoming!" 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Journey with us through the rich and adventurous history of the Yellowstone Highway through the Wind River Canyon, now a scenic by-way. From its rugged landscapes to the tales etched into its cliffs, this byway has seen it all.

We kick off with the Gold Rush era, exploring how the promise of fortune drew eager prospectors into the canyon, igniting a frenzy that transformed the region. As gold seekers braved the treacherous terrain, we share stories of their triumphs and tragedies, revealing the dangerous stakes involved in the quest for riches.

Next, we delve into the role of stagecoaches, the lifelines of communication and commerce during the 19th century. Listen in as we recount thrilling tales of daring robberies, where bandits lurked in the shadows, waiting for their moment to strike. These heists not only added to the canyon's lore but also shaped the lives of those who traveled its path.

But it's not all peril and robbery! We also uncover the lighter side of history, featuring mischievous pranks played by local residents on unsuspecting travelers. These stories add a layer of humanity and humor to the canyon’s rugged narrative.

Join us as we weave together these threads of danger, adventure, and a touch of whimsy, painting a vivid picture of the Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway’s storied past. Tune in to discover how this breathtaking landscape has shaped both history and the people who have called it home.

“Supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources.”

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Sheriff Virgil Rice was tough-as-nails and respected throughout Wyoming. He was known to "get his man" and tracked down horse thieves across the Cowboy State in the 1890's.  

It is believed by residents and historians that he was one of many cowboys that helped inspire America's most beloved cowboy heroes, the Virginian. 

When You Call Me That – Smile!

 It was now the Virginian's turn to bet, or leave the game, and he did not speak at once. 

Therefore, Trampas spoke. “Your bet, you son-of-a—.” 

The Virginian's pistol came out, and his hand lay on the table, holding it unaimed. And with a voice as gentle as ever, the voice that sounded almost like a caress, but drawling a very little more than usual, so that there was almost a space between each word, he issued his orders to the man Trampas: “When you call me that, SMILE.” And he looked at Trampas across the table. 

The infamous words were spoken low and found their mark. That day, there was no gunplay as Trampas backed now. In some versions, he laughed and said, “With a gun against my belly, I always smile.”

Over the years, this incident was written many times over in western movies and made it into Wyoming lore. It was first penned by Owen Wister who frequented the Owl Creek region in the late 1880’s and kept a journal of his adventures.

The young tourist based this scene in his best-selling novel, The Virginian, on a story circulating around cowboy fires on the range. Wister claimed that he did not know the origin of this story, however, the people of old Thermopolis said they knew the man who uttered those words. 

They said it was none other than Virgil Rule Rice, a young cowboy and the first Sheriff of the Big Horn Basin. 

Recommended reading would be Tim McCoy Remembers the West by Tim McCoy. He interviewed Sheriff Rice's outlaw friend, Walt Punteney. 

The stories of our pioneers were brought to you by our partners, Hot Springs County Pioneer Association.  Descendants of Thermopolis, Wyoming can learn how to join their organization by sending us a text! Also send us a text if you have a story you would like featured on the podcast! 

 This episode would not be possible without the support of the Wyoming Humanities. www.thinkwy.org 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

The strike of a rattlesnake, the danger of stampede, the whistling of cowboys, the swish of a lasso and the sting of the hot sun. 

 The cowboys on round-up are a true pioneer of Wyoming. 

Welcome to another episode of "Pioneers of Outlaw Country," where we delve into fascinating stories from Wyoming’s past that often go unnoticed. I am your host, Jackie Dorothy, and today we are traveling on a round-up with one of our favorite tourists, Owen Wister. 

His observations led him to write "The Viriginian" which became the most famous western romances in the world. He introduced an entire generation to the noble cowboy and a strange new world on the western frontier. 

It is the year 1885 and Owen Wister, the young tourist – and future novelist – has been invited to join a round-up with the Wolcott cowboys. He had been on the ranch for a month and was more comfortable in a saddle but still very much a greenhorn.  His journals capture the adventure he experienced on his very first cattle round-up.

 This episode has been brought to you in partnership with the Hot Springs County Pioneer Association and would not be possible without the support of the Wyoming Humanities. www.thinkwy.org 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

The Harvard student of law bent over his journal, writing in camp light and by kerosene. He was capturing the words that he would one day use to write the most popular Western fiction in the world.  

In 1885, a young tourist arrived in Wyoming and went by stage to Medicine Bow. He was a 24 year old Owen Wister who faithfully recorded in his journal all that he saw - and he wasn't very impressed!  Years later, these jottings were the experiences of the Tenderfoot and the opening scene to his most famous book, The Virginian, Horseman of the Plains. 

In this episode, we compare two scenes Wister observed in his journal of the small town of Medicine Bow with the fiction scenes he wrote nearly 20 years later in his western romance. Step back into time and hear the distant train as a young Owen Wister explores a dusty western town on the edge of civilization!

The stories of our pioneers were brought to you by our partners, Hot Springs County Pioneer Association.  Descendants of Thermopolis, Wyoming can learn how to join their organization by sending us a text! Also send us a text if you have a story you would like featured on the podcast! 

 This episode would not be possible without the support of the Wyoming Humanities. www.thinkwy.org 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

When we think of the early visitors of Wyoming, we think of the cowboys, homesteaders, miners and others coming to the West to make their fortune. There was another group of young men who came west on the trains and stagecoaches. These were young, rich men looking for an adventure and relaxation. They were not in Wyoming to find their fortune but here to vacation.

Among these young tourists was a Harvard student of law, Owen Wister. His journals kept a record of his first arrival to Wyoming. As a world traveler, he was not easily awed but Wyoming caught his imagination and pulled him back for visits over the next 15 years. 

Join Wister on his first weeks in Wyoming, a broken young man who had traveled to Wyoming as part of his 'camp cure' and left with the beginnings of the great American novel, The Virginian. 

Thank you for listening to Outlaws of Pioneer Country. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. The stories of our pioneers were brought to you by Hot Springs County Pioneer Association.  

The stories of our pioneers were brought to you by our partners, Hot Springs County Pioneer Association.  Descendants of Thermopolis, Wyoming can learn how to join their organization by sending us a text! Also send us a text if you have a story you would like featured on the podcast! 

 This episode would not be possible without the support of the Wyoming Humanities. www.thinkwy.org 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

The faded pencil script spelled out rough poems, descriptions of sunsets and hangings, saloon scenes, cowboy tall tales, the wide-open prairie and the sharp retort of the gun. 

 From Owen Wister’s pen, the cowboy myth was born and became a true relic of Wyoming’s rich past. 

For over 65 years, Owen Wister's journals lay forgotten - until a stubborn librarian from the University of Wyoming insisted they existed. Today, thanks to his persistence, the journals have been found and now reside at the American Heritage Center in Laramie, Wyoming for future generations! 

The stories of our pioneers were brought to you by our partners, Hot Springs County Pioneer Association.  Descendants of Thermopolis, Wyoming can learn how to join their organization by sending us a text! Also send us a text if you have a story you would like featured on the podcast! 

 This episode would not be possible without the support of the Wyoming Humanities. www.thinkwy.org 

.

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

The most famous cowboy prank in Wyoming... may never have happened. 

Or did it? 

In his novel, The Virginian, Owen Wister tells of a baby swapping prank that happened at a rural dance. It was common practice in those days to pile the babies under chairs and tables to sleep while the parents danced the night away.   According to Wister, two cowboys took advantage of this situation to pull a legendary stunt! 

After his novel was published, residents of Thermopolis and other western towns claimed that the incident was real. According to homesteaders of Owl Creek, Bridger Creek, Lost Cabin and Thermopolis - that person was a young French cowboy named David Picard. 

Follow along on this adventure that made its way even to Hollywood and determine for yourself.... Is it a tall tale or did a mischievous cowboy really pull the ultimate joke on unsuspecting parents? 

The stories of our pioneers were brought to you by our partners, Hot Springs County Pioneer Association.  Descendants of Thermopolis, Wyoming can learn how to join their organization by sending us a text! Also send us a text if you have a story you would like featured on the podcast! 

 This episode would not be possible without the support of the Wyoming Humanities. www.thinkwy.org 

s.

 David Picard, Cowboy Prankster was a production of Legend Rock Media with your host, Jackie Dorothy.

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

When Owen Wister brought his family to Wyoming in 1912, they brought along a special friend: Peeshee, the waltzing mouse. The inclusion of this tiny tourist in their family gives us insight into the Wister family dynamics and their love of nature in all forms.

The Waltzing Mouse, once as common as goldfish as pets for children, was a puzzle to the scientists who studied them. These tiny creatures would whirl in circles rather than walk in straight lines and were more docile than their cousins. 
Peeshee spent the summer waltzing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming to the delight of the four Wister children.

The next year, tragedy struck when their mother died in childbirth and, unknown to them, this was the last summer they would spend in their beloved Wyoming. 
Peeshee the Waltzing Mouse was a delight to all and a fun memory of their time in Wyoming.

The stories of our pioneers were brought to you by our partners, Hot Springs County Pioneer Association.  Descendants of Thermopolis, Wyoming can learn how to join their organization by sending us a text! Also send us a text if you have a story you would like featured on the podcast! 

 This episode would not be possible without the support of the Wyoming Humanities. www.thinkwy.org 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

"Young man, go west!"

Among the cowboys and frontiersmen, miners and homesteaders were a group of young adventurers - the rich young tenderfoot. These tourists were not seeking their fortunes but were tourists, looking to get away from the confines of civilization even briefly. 

One of these young men took his journals and turned them into fiction, becoming one of the best-selling authors in America. Even today, his novel, The Virginian, is one of the top 50 fictions in the last century. 

Owen Wister was proud of his status as Tenderfoot. And even prouder when he was able to shed the title and call himself a pioneer of Wyoming! 

The stories of our pioneers were brought to you by our partners, Hot Springs County Pioneer Association.  Descendants of Thermopolis, Wyoming can learn how to join their organization by sending us a text! Also send us a text if you have a story you would like featured on the podcast! 

 This episode would not be possible without the support of the Wyoming Humanities. www.thinkwy.org 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

In 1902, the most popular book in America was The Virginian by Owen Wister.  This book changed America's perspective on the cowboy and turned the once maligned cowhand into a romantic hero.

Told at times through the eyes of the Tenderfoot, this is a story of a courageous but mysterious cowboy known only as “the Virginian”. He works as foreman of a cattle ranch in the Wyoming territory during the1880s and is admired by his friends and enemies alike. The gunplay and violence of his frontier code threaten his romance with Molly, the pretty schoolteacher from the East. The novel’s climactic gun duel is the first “showdown” in fiction. It also introduced the now-classic phrase that the Virginian utters when confronting Trampas, the villian of the story: “When you call me that, smile!”

The stories of our pioneers were brought to you by our partners, Hot Springs County Pioneer Association.  Descendants of Thermopolis, Wyoming can learn how to join their organization by sending us a text! Also send us a text if you have a story you would like featured on the podcast! 

 This episode would not be possible without the support of the Wyoming Humanities. www.thinkwy.org 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

In 1903, Tom O'Day was villainized in the newspapers as a notorious horse thief but his friends and acquaintances defended him as a cheerful Irishman who may embellish a brand once in awhile. That February he was unarmed when, suddenly, he was in the fight of his life. 

Join us on this exciting escapade of one of Wyoming's most beloved outlaws, Tom O'Day! 

 Thank you for listening to Hot Springs County Pioneers. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. The stories of our pioneers were brought to you by Hot Springs County Pioneer Association.  

 This program has been made possible through a grant from Wyoming Humanities.

 This was a production of Legend Rock Media.

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Happy New Year! What better way to celebrate than to travel back in time to 1884 in the Wyoming Territory. 

Warning... Sprinkled in with the 1884 New Years predictions are superstitions and even an old-fashioned romance. We are celebrating the 1884 New Year just as residents did that same year and reading through the Cheyenne Daily Sun after staying up to bring in the New Year!

1883 had been a time of prosperity for many in Wyoming and the fledging city of Cheyenne. The cattle were thriving, and the railroad was bringing in opportunities to the young territory. The Wyoming and cowboys of the 1880's would soon be immortalized by author Owen Wister in his famous book, The Virginian, but today, as 1884 dawned, the territorial citizens were still living in the world Wister would depict less than 20 years into the future.   

As the citizens welcomed in 1884, little did they know that the future, for some, was going to be dire. For, in just two years, a severe winter would kill thousands of cattle.  It would became known as “The Great Die-Up" and help bring on the war between the wealthy cattlemen association and the small-time homesteaders they saw as a threat to their vast empire.

In 1884, the thoughts were on New Years celebrations and superstitious from the old world. The modern world of electric lights made it easier to enjoy love stories from their homes back east and to look forward to a bright future.

Hello 1884!
Be sure to join the conversation on Facebook and to join our growing community.
(20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

The stories of our pioneers were brought to you by Hot Springs County Pioneer Association and was a production of Legend Rock Media Production. Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy & Dean King.

Season two will be exploring the Wyoming of Owen Wister, the author of The Virginian

This program has been made possible through a grant from Wyoming Humanities.
Home - thinkWY

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

They were daring adventurers, forgers of a new life, homesteaders …. and forgotten to history. These vanished people were true pioneers of Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

The Pioneers of Outlaw Country. 

Cowboys, Lawmen and Outlaws… to the businessmen and women who all helped shape Thermopolis and Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

Here are their stories. 

 The Lost Owl Creek Colony

           Many, many years ago, strangers came from the south and began to build homes in the solitudes of Wyoming. To the tribes who roamed this area, it was a prized hunting ground known for mild winters. They had fought bloody wars for their right to hunt the plentiful game and were jealous of any who also tried to claim the valley beneath the Owl Creek Mountains. 

The Indians say in their own language: “Beautifully the Great Spirit looks at the other countries in the summer, but he lives here all the year.”

These newcomers were seen as a threat by the tribes. The strange people worked among the rocks in the mountains, the country yielding them rich treasures, not only furs, but gold and other precious metals taken from the ground. 

According to their oral traditions, the Indians attacked and destroyed the outsiders in their new homes. They took as their prize the strange animals belonging to these interlopers. This was how the tribes in the Big Horn Basin first came to own horses.

Some dismiss this story as mere legend… a tale told to General George Sliney in the late 1800’s that he wrote down in his memoirs. But was it really only a myth? 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

He was the founder of Thermopolis, well-respected businessman and cattleman, a dashing bachelor, expert horseman and a murderer. 

 This cattleman and businessman was a true pioneer of Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

 The Pioneers of Outlaw Country. 

Cowboys, Lawmen and Outlaws… to the businessmen and women who all helped shape Thermopolis and Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

Here are their stories. 

 Ben Hanson, The Murder of Tom Bird

 A rumor of an unfaithful wife and friend, three gunshots, in rapid succession, a man on the run…. This is the story of Ben Hanson and Tom Bird. 

Ben Hanson, a young cattleman and expert horseman, homesteaded land bordering on the Wind River Indian Reservation in the early 1890’s. He had spent years in the saddle as a cowboy for other men and was now ready to make his own fortune.

He knew this land well. It was untamed and lawless – and full of promise. Both cowboys from the Embar Ranch and outlaws from the Hole-in-the-Wall country, flush with spending money, were roaming the area. They were visiting the hog ranch at Andersonville and the campground at Rocky Row, which was then an illegal settlement on the hot springs belonging to the Shoshoni and Arapaho Indians. 

However... his life was to take a dark turn... 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

She was the daughter of an oil man, grew up in the Grass Creek oil field – playing among the pumpjacks and dancing at the one-room school house in the early part of the 1900’s. 

 This student of the land was truly a pioneer of Hot Springs County, Wyoming.

 The Pioneers of Outlaw Country. 

Cowboys, Lawmen and Outlaws… to the businessmen and women who all helped shape Thermopolis and Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

Here are their stories. 

 Elizabeth McCrady Nuhn, Daughter of Oil

 Armed with rifles, and wearing masks, three men, self-proclaimed vigilantes, “compelled” a large number of claim jumpers to evacuate the camps they had established illegally. 

It was 1917 and a new era of outlaws had taken over the Wild West. 

Oil had been discovered and men flocked to the remote outposts of Wyoming in search of the black gold. Businessmen, such as Martin McGrath, a founding father of Thermopolis, and former outlaws like Elzy Lay of the Hole-in-the-Wall gang, joined in the hunt for the liquid treasure. 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Major George “Sandy” Forsyth: His Forgotten Diary 

 He was a Civil War veteran, Cavalry Officer, Indian Fighter, General Sheridan’s aide de camp, avid fisherman, author, husband and Brigadier General.

 This courageous soldier was a true explorer of Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

The Pioneers of Outlaw Country. 

Cowboys, Lawmen and Outlaws… to the businessmen and women who all helped shape Thermopolis and Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

Here are their stories. 

Major George “Sandy” Forsyth: The Forgotten Diary 

In the Hot Springs County Museum in Thermopolis, Wyoming, a nondescript brown journal was displayed without acknowledgement of its historical importance. This journal was on display in the military exhibit with a small photo of its author, Major George “Sandy” Forsyth. 

Someone had stamped the cover with the old address of the County Museum before that museum was burned and moved to its present location on 700 Broadway in Thermopolis, Wyoming. Somehow, the journal survived the devasting fire although its outer edges are tinged with old soot. 

This journal was on its way to the Smithsonian when instead, the owner chose, through a series of twists and turns, to send the journal to Thermopolis. That is because this journal was written in 1877 about a journey through the future Hot Springs County.

Major George “Sandy” Forsyth was General Sheridan’s aide de camp and, along with many notable officers of the time, was on a journey through the Big Horn Mountains to Camp Custer. It had been one year since General Custer had been killed at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The company of soldiers, who had all known him and his regiment, were on their way to the new posts being built along the Rose Bud and Tongue River. The Indian Wars were coming to an end and the company was accompanied by Sioux Scouts. 

They had left Chicago on the train and arrived in Cheyenne within one day. From there, they took the train and stagecoach to Camp Brown, a fort near the future town of Lander. This trip was unlike any from the previous years when danger lurked on the countryside from hostile Indians. The Indian Wars were over and now the soldiers hunted and fished their way across the beautiful landscape.

Sandy Forsyth was a skilled writer and his words describe a world as beautiful as any park. He describes the bright blue of the larkspur and forget-me-nots, the string of trout they caught and the mosquitoes that plagued them. In 1877, buffalo still roamed Hot Springs County in large herds and the area was still being mapped.  

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Over the Stage Line to Thermopolis

 They were adventurers, farm boys, prospectors, family men and former soldiers. These men who drove the stage through Wyoming had to be endure the heat of summer and the sleet and snow of winter... and bandits. 

 These hardy stagecoach drivers were true pioneer of Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

The Pioneers of Outlaw Country. 

Cowboys, Lawmen and Outlaws… to the businessmen and women who all helped shape Thermopolis and Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

Here are their stories. 

Driving the stage could be dangerous business.  

Early in his career, coal miner John Hultz drove stage over Birdseye Pass which took him from Shoshoni to Thermopolis over steep grades and miles of lonely wilderness. This route began in late 1905 when travel over Mexican Pass was halted by the tribes.

One summer day, John was driving the stage on Birdseye when two men tried to stick him up. He said that one little fella climbed up on the wheel and pointed the gun in his face. At the same time, the other bandit climbed up on the right side and put the gun on the man that was riding shotgun. 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

  A single gunshot rang out. It was night on a bustling Wyoming street - yet no one admitted to recognizing the gunman who escaped into the crowd…. 

 Dora McGrath: A Lady of the Wild West 

She was the daughter of homesteaders and wife of a coal miner. A mother, business woman, stylish lady of society, soldier advocate, and first woman senator of Wyoming. 

 This courageous mother was a true pioneer of Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

 The Pioneers of Outlaw Country. 

Cowboys, Lawmen and Outlaws… to the businessmen and women who all helped shape Thermopolis and Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

Here are their stories.

           

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Joe Meek: The Mountain Man

 He was the tall Virginian. A trapper, Indian fighter, pioneer, peace officer, frontier politician, and lover of practical jokes and Jacksonian democracy. 

 This friend and companion of Kit Carson and Jim Bridger was a true pioneer of Wyoming and Hot Springs County. 

 The Pioneers of Outlaw Country. 

Cowboys, Lawmen and Outlaws… to the businessmen and women who all helped shape Thermopolis and Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

Here are their stories. 

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. The stories of our pioneers were brought to you by Hot Springs County Pioneer Association.  

This podcast was supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources.

 This is a production of Legend Rock Media.

 Copyright 2023 Legend Rock Media 

 With a special thank you to Tony Messerly and the Many Strings Band. For more of their lively music, visit them at www.ManyStrings.net.

Big Horn River Pilot, Volume 02, Number 09, May 11, 1898
Joe Meek: The Merry Mountain Man, A Biography by Stanley Vestal

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

As the wind blew across the snow, the mountain men made a winter camp without provisions or hope of getting any until they reached the plains where the buffalo roamed. They were living off the land and the deer and elk had fled this high country. 

It was 1829 and Joe Meek was a teenage runaway who had joined this band of men as a hired hunter and trapper only the spring before. The tall Virginian had already been attacked by Indians, lost in the country and had met starvation. However, this new frontier held him and, as he hunkered near the fire, warming his hands and celebrating Christmas, he wasn’t ready to go back to civilization. 

Merry Christmas from the wilderness of Wyoming! 

This History Tidbit is courtesy of the Hot Springs County Pioneer Association and Legend Rock Media Productions. 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

He was a man of the West. A cowboy, husband, father, outlaw, hired assassin, lawman and lone wolf.  

 This Deputy Sheriff and Horse Rustler was a true pioneer of Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

 The Pioneers of Outlaw Country. 

Cowboys, Lawmen and Outlaws… to the businessmen and women who all helped shape Thermopolis and Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

Here are their stories. 

 Albert Slick Nard, Lawman & Outlaw

 Part II –– Lawman to Outlaw 

It is 1892 and the Horse Rustler Wars have been declared in Wyoming. Albert “Slick” Nard had been recruited from the ranks of horse thief to that of Deputy Sheriff. His former best friend and fellow outlaw, Jack Bliss, has just escaped from the Lander Jail and stolen the racehorse, Red Bird. This famous horse belonged to another horse thief turned deputized lawman, Manuel Armenta.  

Here is the rest of Slick Nard's story... 

This podcast was researched and hosted by Jackie Dorothy and Dean King of Legend Rock Media Productions with special thanks to Author and Historian, Mike Bell. 

For more adventurous reading and to learn more about this family and their friends, we suggest the following books which we used to research their story:

• Butch Cassidy, The Wyoming Years by Bill Betenson
• History of Wyoming, Big Horn Basin by Taceta Walker
• Incidents on Owl Creek - Butch Cassidy's Big Horn Basin Bunch and the Wyoming Horsethief War by Mike Bell

Shop the Independent Bookstore | Lulu

Music Credits:

• Dude, Where's My Horses by Nat Keefe with the Bow Ties
• Horses and Trains, Jesse Gallagher
• Rattlesnake Railroad by Brett Van Donsel
• A Fallen Cowboy by Sir Cubworth
• Western Spaghetti by Chris Haugen

Travel back to the past with a trip to Hot Springs County!

     Thermopolis, Wyoming is home of the "World's Largest Mineral Hot Springs" and still retains much of its western charms. Only a few hours from Yellowstone, you can come visit and for yourself why this town was once an outlaw hideout! 
Home - Hot Springs Wyoming Tourism (thermopolis.com)
     You can even visit Old Thermopolis on Black Mountain Road where all that remains are memories - and a great fishing hole.  Slick Creek, named after our infamous lawman/outlaw, Slick Nard, is still in existence, a marker of by-gone days and highway robbery.
     Afterwards, lounge at the actual Hole-in-the-Wall bar that the Wild Bunch visited, now at the Hot Springs County Museum. 
Hot Springs County Museum & Cultural Center | Thermopolis, Wyoming (thermopolismuseum.com)

Be sure to look us up - the Hot Springs County Pioneers! 

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

 He was a man of the West. A cowboy, husband, father, outlaw, hired assassin, lawman and lone wolf.  

This Deputy Sheriff and Horse Rustler was a true pioneer of Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

Hot Springs County, Wyoming was a lawless rugged country, far from civilization and the law. The pioneers who came to this land had to have grit and the desire to survive. 

Albert Nard a.k.a. Slick had come to Wyoming up the Texas Trail in 1884. Tempers had just begun to boil between the homesteaders and free-range cattlemen. Within six years, this young cowboy, now a husband and father, fell in with Jack Bliss, a known horse thief. The two rustled cows and horses in the Lost Cabin area and were well-known by the locals. Slick knew the Hole-in-the-Wall gang members and early pioneers of the area as he plied his trade to provide for his young family. It was there, during the Horse Rustler Wars, that Slick was given a choice by a vigilante- turn informant or go to jail.

The Worland Grit claimed that “Nard hung out in the Hole in the Wall country but generally played a lone hand. He had earned a right to be called “Slick” through his cattle and horse rustling. For a time, he rode with the Curry gang of train robbers and was supposed to have been an actor in several of the big looting deals that gang was responsible for.”

This podcast was researched and hosted by Jackie Dorothy and Dean King of Legend Rock Media Productions with special thanks to Author and Historian, Mike Bell. 

For more adventurous reading and to learn more about this family and their friends, we suggest the following books which we used to research their story:

• Butch Cassidy, The Wyoming Years by Bill Betenson
• History of Wyoming, Big Horn Basin by Taceta Walker
• Incidents on Owl Creek - Butch Cassidy's Big Horn Basin Bunch and the Wyoming Horsethief War by Mike Bell

Shop the Independent Bookstore | Lulu

Music Credits:

• Dude, Where's My Horses by Nat Keefe with the Bow Ties
• Horses and Trains, Jesse Gallagher
• Rattlesnake Railroad by Brett Van Donsel
• A Fallen Cowboy by Sir Cubworth
• Western Spaghetti by Chris Haugen

Travel back to the past with a trip to Hot Springs County!

     Thermopolis, Wyoming is home of the "World's Largest Mineral Hot Springs" and still retains much of its western charms. Only a few hours from Yellowstone, you can come visit and for yourself why this town was once an outlaw hideout!
Home - Hot Springs Wyoming Tourism (thermopolis.com)
     You can even visit Old Thermopolis on Black Mountain Road where all that remains are memories - and a great fishing hole.  Slick Creek, named after our infamous lawman/outlaw, Slick Nard, is still in existence, a marker of by-gone days and highway robbery.
     Afterwards, lounge at the actual Ho

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

She was the daughter of a cavalry soldier. A teacher, caregiver, rancher, homesteader, wife, mother and to some, an angle of mercy – even when the person in need was also a wanted outlaw. 

This courageous homesteader was a true pioneer of Hot Springs County, Wyoming.

Mary Hayes Picard and her sister-in-law, Lottie Weber Hayes, were home alone at the remote 2B ranch owned by the Picard family. The children were suffering from whooping cough and the men were gone when Kid Curry appeared on their doorstep. He had been shot and needed help.

Who was Mary, this ranch wife closely acquainted with the Hole-in-the-Wall gang? 

The Hot Springs County Pioneer Association brings you the story of Mary Hayes Picard, a teacher and ranch wife of Wyoming.  

We especially want to thank the daughters of Raymond Picard, Cecil and Mary, for taking the time to share their family memories and oral history. Please note that they pronounce their name "Pick-erd" rather than the French pronunciation of "Puh-card".  

This podcast was researched and hosted by Jackie Dorothy and Dean King of Legend Rock Media Productions 

For more adventurous reading and to learn more about this family and their friends, we suggest the following books which we used to research their story:

• He Rode with Butch and Sundance: The Story of Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan By Mark T. Smokov
• Halleck Country - The Story of the Land and its People by Edna B. Patterson and Louise A. Beebe 
• History of Natrona County by Alfred James Mokler 
• History of Wyoming, Big Horn Basin by Taceta Walker

Music Credits:

• Dude, Where's My Horses by Nat Keefe with the Bow Ties
• Shenandoah (Instrumental) by Mickey Raphael 
• Miner's Song in the Klondike Gold Rush
• A Ghost Town by Quincas Moreira 
• Rattlesnake Railroad by Brett Van Donsel
• The Wild West by Ross Bugden

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

He was a man of the West. A cowboy, ranch foreman, top rider and roper with the Buffalo Bill Show, husband, father, homesteader, saloon owner... and outlaw.

This member of the Wild Bunch was a true pioneer of Hot Springs, County.

Walt Punteney was a stockman in Wyoming who sidelined as an outlaw in the infamous Hole-in-the-Wall gang. He counted as friends such well-known outlaws as Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid and Harvey Logan.

He lived in what is now Hot Springs County, Wyoming in a time when a cowboy could brand his own cattle and become named as a rustler. It was dangerous times but Walt never lost his zest for life or his smile.

Your Hosts:
Jackie Dorothy & Dean King  

Music Credits:
Surrender, Dan Lebowitz
The Colonel, Zechariah Hickman
Wild West, Zitron Sound
Horses and Trains, Jesse Gallagher

For further reading on Walt Punteney and his companions, we recommend the following books:
Tim McCoy Remembers the West by Tim McCoy
Wind River Adventures: My Life in Frontier Wyoming by Edward J. Farlow
The Wild Bunch at Robbers Roost  by Pearl Baker
Butch Cassidy: The Wyoming Years by Bill Betenson
Desperate Men: Revelations from the Sealed Pinkerton Files by James Horan

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Welcome to the first episode of this 12-part series featuring stories from pioneers of the outlaw country of Wyoming; Hot Springs County.

He was a man of the West. A cowboy, rancher, friend of the Indian warrior, cavalry officer, Hollywood movie star, and showman. 

He lived by the adage, “Never look back; something might be gaining on you.”

This son of Irish immigrants was a true pioneer of Hot Springs County, Wyoming. 

During his lifetime, Tim McCoy was one of the most famous men who called Hot Springs County, Wyoming home. 

In the early days of film, he was one of the Big Four of Hollywood Western Stars alongside Tom Mix, Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson. He starred in over 100 movies, had his own tv show, won an Emmy and his star is on Hollywood Boulevard.

Today, many people never heard of Tim McCoy even in his hometown of Thermopolis. Tim McCoy’s early years were tied to Hot Springs County and he ranched up Owl Creek at the Eagles Nest for 30 years. He often said that his heart belonged to Wyoming – not the glitz and glam of Hollywood.

Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. The stories of our pioneers were brought to you by Hot Springs County Pioneer Association.  We are dedicated to preserving the history of our unique county and city of Thermopolis.

This podcast was supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources.

This was a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Music Credits:

• Rattlesnake Railroad by Brett VanDonsel
• Roundup on the Prairie by Aaron Kenny
• The Gunfight by Everett Almond
• The Old Chisholm Trail by Harry McClintock (1928)
• Celtic Impulse by Kevin Macleod
• A Fallen Cowboy by Sir Cubworth
• Western Spaghetti by Chris Haugen

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Pioneers of Outlaw Country

Hot Springs County was a remote area in Central Wyoming, lawless and frequented by the Hole-in-the-Wall gang. In the late 1800’s, there were no jails, many saloons, and wide-spread homesteads. There were numerous opportunities for the daring and enterprising businessmen – cattlemen, horse traders, store owners, saloon operators, farmers, coal miners and oil men. 

In the 1920’s, businesswoman Dora McGrath realized that these stories needed to be preserved and founded the Hot Springs County Pioneer Association with the dream of one day opening a museum. Early members of the association included former outlaws and lawmen, business owners, ranchers, and Shoshone and Arapaho tribal leaders. 

Today, the descendants of these early settlers remain in the region and are working together to preserve the history before it is lost. 

These are their stories. 

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. The stories of our pioneers were brought to you by Hot Springs County Pioneer Association.  

This podcast was supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources.

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.

Music: Rattlesnake Railroad by Bret Van Donsel

Support the show

Be sure to subscribe to “Pioneers of Outlaw Country” so you don’t miss a single episode of this historic series. 

Your hosts are Jackie Dorothy and Dean King and you can find us at (20+) Pioneers of Outlaw Country | Facebook

We also have a great deal for you! We have used Sonix for all our transcriptions for over five years and believe they are the best in the industry! Give them a try with our referral code and see why we are loyal customers! https://sonix.ai/invite/kldawrg

This is a production of Legend Rock Media Productions.