November 19, 2024 • 26 mins
Snow, rain, and a spirit that can weather any storm—welcome to an episode filled with the vibrant essence of Wyoming life! What does it mean to truly "ride for the brand"? We'll explore it all, from the highs and lows of Wyoming's football scene—including Sheridan County's triumphs and the Wyoming Cowboys' rough patch—down to the heartstring tugging moments of sportsmanship that remind us what community really means. Get ready to stay informed about the unpredictable weather leading up to Thanksgiving, promising favorable travel conditions despite the wintry mix.
The tension heats up as we unravel the legal drama of the Cantrell trial, a gripping case full of courtroom theatrics and unexpected twists, culminating in a self-defense acquittal. Beyond the courtroom, we dissect the far-reaching effects this case has on local politics and community trust. Finally, let’s reflect on the timeless values encapsulated by Wyoming's Code of the West. Whether it’s loyalty, integrity, or just riding for your brand, discover how these principles are more than just mottos—they're the backbone of Wyoming's identity. Join us for a journey through stories that capture the soul of the Cowboy State.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Good morning and welcome to let's Talk Wyoming.
I'm Mark Hamilton, your host,and today we'll be taking a look
at our weather.
We'll talk about Wyoming cowboyfootball and that bronze boot.
We'll put a close to wintersports here in Wyoming with the
state football championships andwe'll talk about a dark time in
(00:41):
Rock Springs Wyoming history amurder trial of 1970s.
Thanks for joining us and enjoythe show.
(01:06):
Taking a look at Wyoming weatherhere on the 18th day of
November, getting close, a weekand a half away more or less
from Thanksgiving, we're gettinginto that holiday season.
Our weather here in Wyoming hasbeen pretty nice.
We had a little bit of snow onTuesday this previous week.
(01:27):
A little wet snow, a littlerain turned to snow, caused some
issue with some of the roadshere in northern Wyoming, had a
little bit of moisture, just alittle bit of a snow on Friday
night.
But right now, looking aheadfor the week, we look like we're
going to have some prettyfavorable weather.
Just taking a look at thatlong-range forecast, have family
(01:48):
coming in for Thanksgiving andneed to make a trip up to
Billings, montana to pick up forthe taxi service, so it's going
to be interesting.
I always worry aboutThanksgiving time it seems like
that's when the storms hit rightafter Thanksgiving and
everybody has to face thattravel issue.
(02:09):
So we're praying for goodweather.
But right now everything looksgood here in Wyoming.
The days are getting shorter, alittle bit of wind, but
definitely we are in that timeof year that we're used to.
Just got to make the best of it, especially with the holidays
coming forward.
We're used to you just got tomake the best of it, especially
with the holidays coming forward.
In Wyoming sports.
A disappointing Friday night inFort Collins for the Wyoming
(02:30):
Cowboys as they drop a 24-10game against CSU.
Csu got a lead and the Cowboysjust couldn't generate any
offense.
In that second half CSU reallyleft Wyoming an opportunity.
Csu scored early but they kindof I don't know they pulled off
the gas or what happened.
(02:51):
But the Cowboy defense got alittle better in that first half
it was pretty embarrassing theway CSU was running the ball.
But second half Cowboys justcouldn't do anything.
And there in the fourth quarterthey threw three passes in a
row that hit the receivers inthe hands and they dropped them.
Three different receivers andif that is indicative of the
(03:13):
Wyoming Cowboys seasons thisyear.
So right now the Cowboys are attwo and eight.
Yes, two and eight, that soundsdoesn't even sound real at 2-8.
And it doesn't look too goodgoing forward.
But always got to be positive.
They have a game on Saturday.
(03:35):
This coming Saturday they takeon the Boise State Bronx.
Boise State is right now infirst place in the Mountain West
.
So that's going to be a toughmatchup for the Cowboys with
everything that Boise State has.
And then they go on the road toplay Washington State and
(03:55):
Pullman.
And interesting, washingtonState of course doesn't have a
conference.
They used to be in the Pac-12,but Oregon State and Washington
State were left standing.
They're reorganizing a newPac-12 conference, but they have
been playing pretty goodfootball.
And then, of all teams, newMexico went in and beat them on
(04:16):
Saturday night in Pullman in areally shocking game.
So Cowboys have got to knowthat they have a chance if they
play a good air-free game andcan move the ball.
Interesting tidbit the headcoach at Washington State used
to coach at the University ofWyoming, so there'll be a little
bit of familiarity witheveryone.
(04:38):
But that will be in two weeks.
In our state here, high schoolfootball they finished up the
football season on Friday andSaturday in Laramie at War
Memorial.
They've had the fivechampionship games.
Sheridan Bronx won again.
I guess it's getting quite.
(04:58):
I guess you might as well justpencil them in next year for the
state title.
They are at a 30-plus winningstreak for 30-plus games.
I think it's 37 or 38.
I didn't get a chance to check,but let's just say they're a
juggernaut.
And they won that matchupagainst Cheyenne East
convincingly and that's just theway they've always been.
(05:21):
In the 3A, star Valley came inand played Cody a third year in
a row and in the third year in arow Star Valley defeated Cody.
Cody always has a great seasonuntil they have to play Star
Valley.
But again Star Valley won thatgame.
Also in the 2A, bighorn wasvictorious.
(05:45):
Now that's kind of strange.
Bighorn Wyoming is in SheridanCounty.
It is just south of Sheridan,the community of Bighorn.
So you have Sheridan County isthe football capital of Wyoming.
You have two state champions,pretty dominant teams, in
Sheridan High School and BighornHigh School.
(06:07):
I don't know what they havegoing there, but everybody needs
to go by and figure out what itis, whether it's the water or
what.
But Sheridan County definitelyis the title town, title county,
I should say as they came outvictorious.
County, I should say as theycame out victorious.
Also, pine Bluffs beatLingle-Fort Laramie in the
(06:27):
championship game in thenine-man football and finally in
six-man, little Snake Riverdefeated Burlington and that was
a rematch of last year's andLittle Snake came out victorious
.
So congratulations to all theplayers.
All the fans are making thetrip it is always good to get
people down there andcongratulations to all the
(06:47):
players that played, went outfor football here in the state
of Wyoming, got involved withactivities.
One side note on this I didnotice and I didn't really
realize this happened.
Of course it hadn't been reallyadvertised, but after the
championship game the StarValley and Cody teams met in the
center of the field for prayer.
(07:08):
So I guess Cody has been doingthis all season long.
So hats off to Cody High Schooland Star Valley High School for
letting those young men expresstheir self, their feelings on
Jesus Christ, our Lord andSavior, their feelings on Jesus
Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Today we want to kind of go alittle different direction.
(07:31):
A story from wildhistoryorg, andthis is about an event that
happened back in my early years.
I remember this happening inRock Springs, wyoming, ed
Cantrell, Rock Springs and BoomTime Crime by Paul Crezza.
It was Old West style, a cleanup the town fast, draw lawmen
(07:55):
acting to save his life.
Or was it an in the trenchesundercover cop about to blow the
whistle on small towncorruption?
Undercover cop about to blowthe whistle on small-town
corruption?
One could easily craftnarratives using either of these
two descriptions.
Given the events that cascadedthrough late 1970 Sweetwater
(08:16):
County, wyoming, either scenariowould share a leading character
a Rock Springs, a uniqueliberal-leaning, multicultural
island in almost whiteconservative Wyoming.
The drama went public when one.38 caliber pistol shot, fired
July 15, 1978, outside theSilver Dollar Bar in Rock
(08:39):
Springs, wyoming.
Ed Cantrell, 51 at the timerecently hired as the Rock
Springs Public Safety Director,leaned over the front passenger
seat of a police car with twodetectives seated inside, took
swift aim and shot hisundercover agent between the
eyes, michael Angel Rosa, whowas then 29.
(09:02):
Cantrell, an Indiana native andstate policeman, moved to
Wyoming in 1958.
He joined the Wyoming HighwayPatrol in 1960, stationed first
in Rock Springs for seven yearsand then Cody for four years.
Rosa, a Puerto Rican who hadlived in New York City's Spanish
Harlem, had worked in Wyomingas an undercover agent in
(09:23):
Gillette, wyoming and thenLander Wyoming.
When Cantrell hired him in late1977 for a covert drug
investigation, he contacted himand said he wanted to clean up
Rock Springs.
And Mike said this is a goodman, he's straightforward,
honest and a good guy and Ireally like him and I think he
likes me too, said spouseRebecca Rosa when interviewed
(09:47):
four days after theshooting.
Rock Springs, my immigrantgrandparents' destination a
century plus ago, began as acamp to mine coal for the Union
Pacific Railroad.
I lived there for decades,growing up and later writing
about this radical,fossil-fuel-driven overnight
transformation.
Rock Springs was a busted townin the early 1950s when the
(10:09):
Union Pacific Coal Company laidoff miners en masse after the
railroad switched to diesel.
Isolated, the city floundered,littered with leftover mining
remains and underground minetunnels that damaged the houses
built above them when thetunnels collapsed.
Politically and culturally itwas a Wyoming anomaly, derided
(10:30):
by dominant conservative stateRepublicans as a weird
phenomenon, democrat place runby unions, ragtag immigrants and
rumors of murkymafiosis.
Then, in 1971, two utilities,not sharing much information
with residents, announced plansto build the $1 billion
(10:50):
2,000-megawatt coal-fired JimBridger power plant.
Locals first welcomed theconstruction but became
increasingly nervous as workersflooded the area, doubling the
city's 11,000 population in afew years.
At the same time, developmentof oil and gas and near the
nearby town of Green River Trona, the primary source of soda ash
(11:13):
, brought more people.
These events jolted RockSprings back to riches and the
city assumed a new identity.
Quintessential western BoomtownImpact was the umbrella
description for the ensuingsalsa changes.
Job-seeking drifters campedoutside the city and waves of
incoming children filled theschools.
(11:33):
Questionable planning andzoning brought a quick build,
shoddy housing and unsightlytrailer parks.
Hunting and zoning brought aquick build, shoddy housing and
unsightly trailerparks.
Prostitutes appeared on KStreet in Rock Springs'
historical downtown bar and vicedistrict where the largely male
workforce went to drink.
Once busted locals who hunkereddown during the bad times
(11:56):
scrambled to cash in on the newloose money.
A cavalcade of boom-fueledcrime unfolded Multiple murders,
shootings, rapes and arson.
The city assumed a feel ofplain, bald-faced sleaze.
But also among the newcomerswere activists who formed a
loose coalition with feministsand younger residents.
Some founded the innovativeSweetwater County Sexual Assault
(12:17):
and Rape Task Force, whileothers caused a stir with
efforts to upgrade the countyhospital, the Rock Springs Old
Guard, the Bust-Era families whostayed in town and, until the
1970 boom, held public officefor long periods labeled
activist dissidents.
Activist dissidents In themid-1977, cbs News man Dan
(12:46):
Rather arrived in the bone-drycountry they call Sweetwater
County, pointing to his specialnight lens at K Street probing
police payoffs and drugdeliveries.
The network aired his 60-minuteportrait of Our Town.
A Washington Post reporter alsocame, noting the dingy hub of
vice in Rock Springs where theelegant hookers in large, highly
polished Cadillacs bearingout-of-state license plates
(13:09):
cruised the cold, windy streetsas their pimps shot pool in
shabby bars with cowboys andconstruction men.
Rather concluded it was all ablend of permissiveness and
criminality and beyondjournalism to establish
innocence and guilt.
He also produced a secondepisode, high Noon in Cheyenne
on state politics, primarily onGovernor Ed Hershler.
(13:32):
Governor Ed, as people calledhim, was a folksy Democrat and a
camera-whiming lawyer electedby a coalition of minority
Democrats, ranchers and moderateRepublicans.
To the dismay of conservatives.
The Republican-dominatedlegislature sparred with
Herschler but he eventually wasre-elected twice.
Rather noted Herschler'sconnection to Rock Springs
(13:55):
through state Democraticchairman and well-known local
businessman, don El Salmi.
The El Salmi family werelongtime residents and Don and
his three brothers operated alucrative boom enterprise.
Bill sold mobile homes and thencars and trucks, john a lawyer,
also on a zoning board thatgranted variances or exceptions
(14:15):
to zoning rules, including onefor his brother, paul, a motel
owner who developed workerapartments in a
commercialized-only zone.
All were linked to longtimemayor Paul Wadata Administration
, and Rathers' report wasfigured as looking the other
way.
As crime flourished AfterRathers left town, events
(14:36):
accelerated.
A state judge impaneled astatewide grand jury in November
of 1977.
One of its prime investigativetargets was Rock Springs.
Hershler's Attorney GeneralFrank Mendocino was accused of
covering up probes among thosein Rock Springs.
In early 1978, changes were inthe air in Sweetwater County
(14:59):
when activist newcomers andlocal reformers like legislator
and lawyer Fred Broussard ofGreen River organized to upend
old politics.
Two new radio stations, kugrand KRKK, offered a robust local
news along with the Casper StarTribune, were as they paid by
(15:20):
the column inch correspondent.
I learned much quickly.
Local officials got intensivepublic scrutiny and statewide
regional exposure.
Rock Springs officials wereunderstandably feeling the heat
as the grand jury investigatorspoked around.
Cantrell meanwhile was workingas Sweetwater County Sheriff
(15:41):
James Stark's undershirt sheriffwhere Wadataw hired him as the
Rock Springs Public SafetyDirector and said he gave
Cantrell full reign to tacklecrime.
In an interview 12 hours beforethe Silver Dollar Bar
confrontation, cantrell told mehe inherited a good police
department and he'd hired adetective assigned to
(16:02):
prostitution and narcoticsalmost full-time and I don't see
any relief for that situationin the immediate
future.
In the early morning of July15th Cantrell fired the shots
that changed his life and endedRose's.
Two days later Cantrell wascharged with first-degree murder
.
Sweetwater County AttorneyRobert Bass' complaint included
(16:23):
an affidavit from State Divisionof Criminal Investigation
Director Christopher Crofts,called in by Sheriff Starks to
probe the shooting.
Rosa had just been subpoenaedto appear before the state grand
jury the following Monday, july17, 1978, croft notes One of
the detectives in the car duringthe shooting, james Callis,
(16:46):
said he had called Cantrell onJuly 14 to tell him about the
subpoena and also about expensereports.
Callis had asked Rosa tocorrect.
Callis thought these weretrivial errors but cited
paranoia in Rock Springs becausethe grand jury earlier had
indicted the Wyoming LawEnforcement Academy Director for
(17:06):
Altering Travel Vouchers.
Callis later reported that whenhe met with Cantrell the night
before the shooting Cantrellbecame quite angry and at one
point said words to the effectof maybe we ought to take care
of this son of a bitch out andkill him.
Cross wrote In the earlymorning hours of July 15th,
callis and another detective metBitter and accompanied Cantrell
(17:31):
to the Silver Dollarbar.
Cantrell said he wanted to talkwith Rosa.
Callis said both detectivessitting in their squad car
watched Rosa enter the car in aslurly or angry manner and
saying what do you want?
You?
Followed by a gunshot or angrymanner and saying what do you
want?
You?
Followed by a gunshot.
They both looked to seeCantrell pointing a revolver
(17:52):
towards Rosa's genrily over thecenter of the back of the front
seat.
The avidator indicated and Rosawas sitting with his head
slumped forward.
Callous said something likeGood God, ed, why did you do
that?
Cantrell replied.
The two detectives said it wasa cold stare.
Crofts said Cantrell toldanother detective at the scene
(18:14):
that he and Rosa reached for agun.
Crofts said Cantrell toldanother detective at the scene
that he thought Rosa reached fora gun and words to the effect I
could see it in his eyes he wasgoing to get me.
It was him orme.
Cantrell was taken into a sidedoor for a Justice Court bond
hearing in downtown Rock Springsamid tight security, including
(18:37):
some armed officers on rooftopacross the street.
The hearing was closed,prompting a First Amendment
lawsuit by KTWOTV reporter PeteWilliams lawsuit by KTWO-TV
reporter Pete Williams.
Bond was set at $250,000.
Cantrell was sent forpsychiatric evaluation at the
state hospital in Evanston,wyoming, deemed sane, with Bond
(18:57):
posted by friends.
Cantrell remained free untilhis November 13th preliminary
hearing.
But a new player in the dramaarrived, well-known and
flamboyant Jackson Wyominglawyer, jerry Spence, who agreed
to defend Cantrell.
Spence at the time was early inhis career, just beginning to
build his later fame with suchtactics as Western dress and the
(19:19):
style of questioning athearings.
On the first day, the hearingwas moved to Rock Springs City
Hall to accommodate spectators.
Day, the hearing was moved toRock Springs City Hall to
accommodate spectators.
There's not a man, woman orchild in Wyoming who doesn't
believe Cantrell is guilty,spence said, adding that the
press has been victimized.
Cantrell would pleadself-defense and the case would
rest on three pitiful Psparanoia, panic and politics
(19:43):
Spence said.
After one day the hearing waspostponed until after the grand
juryfinished.
The hearing finally resumedmonths later, january 22, 1979,
and ran until February 8.
At unprecedented length, mosthearings were brief.
It gave Spence a time to workon the media with a new
(20:05):
narrative painting Rosa as anunsavory character.
When the hearing ended, justiceof the Peace.
Nana James sent the case toDistrict Court for trial.
Months later, district CourtJudge Kenneth Hamm scheduled
trial for November 13, 1979, 16months after the crime, and
granted a defense motion tochange the venue to Pinedale,
(20:28):
100 miles north, a town of about1,000 people not unfamiliar
with guns.
Prosecutors Robert Pickett andJack Smith dutifully presented
the case outline and basscomplaint.
During the two-week trial,spence painted a picture of Rosa
as a cop gone sour who may havebeen using drugs himself and
(20:48):
was also having an affair At onepoint in the trial.
Star Tribune reporter JoanBarron was assigned to cover it.
Spence had subpoenaed me, whichmade me a witness, then calling
Cantrell to testify, spencedefined the proceedings with a
single dramatic moment.
He asked Cantrell todemonstrate his quick draw with
his evidence-impounded revolver.
(21:09):
So fast Spence implied thatRosa intended to shoot was taken
out first.
Judge Hamm, who also hadconnections to the old guard
Webb in Rock Springs, gave thejury only one choice to make
find Cantrell guilty offirst-degree murder or accept
his self-defense argument.
After less than three hours theverdict came Not guilty.
(21:29):
The crowd of courtroom eruptedin
applause.
The Star Tribune letter writersexpressed mostly outrage at the
verdict, as did some RockSprings residents I interviewed
I knew he would get off, saidone Spence is a lot sharper than
the people who prosecuted it.
Another said but Green RiverStar editor and publisher Carl
(21:50):
Betts told editors that it wasover the time to move on.
We must conclude that 12 honestfolks ruled the man was
innocent.
Cantrell correctly said that nolaw enforcement agency would
want him, so he rode off therange, hired by the Wyoming
Cattlemen Association to curbrustling.
His new career attracted morenational attention Life magazine
(22:14):
with a photo spread in 1983,and then Harper's Magazine
writer James Conway portrayedhim in 1987, the last hired gun.
But for all the publicity,including later as a consultant
for the television miniseriesLonesome Dove, cantrell told
interviewers he was deep in debtand alone In Sweetwater
(22:36):
County.
Meanwhile reformers hadtriumphed in the November 1978
election.
Broussard soundly defeated12-year state senator Robert
Johnson, hamm's brother-in-lawand also Wadataw's city attorney
.
Wadataw filed a $63 millionlibel suit against Rather and
CBS, but that was tossed alongwith his equal-time FCC request.
(23:00):
Rebecca Rose's $7 millionlawsuit against Cantrell and
Roxby's officials met a similarfate.
Lawsuit against Cantrell andRock Springs officials met a
similar fate.
The grand jury meanwhile issuedthis report in November of 1978
and indicted 25 persons, mostfrom Rock Springs and Casper, on
drug delivery charges and onlytwo lower-level state officials.
(23:21):
No Rock Springs or SweetwaterCounty officials were charged
and there was no proof ofpayoffs, but the jury criticized
them for lax enforcement ofdrug and prostitution
laws.
The Osami family continues tovary business enterprises,
including the Outlaw Inn, a namethat harked back to Butch
Cassidy days in Rock Springs.
One of the grandsons, jay,recalled the city in a 2016
(23:47):
memoir Heavy.
Interviewed by the WyomingPublic Media, he said the
narrative that the family wouldtell was always the 60-minute
episode and all the stuff isjust a complete bull.
I think the truth is maybe notquite in the middle, but
definitely more tinges ofshadiness with my grandpa than
(24:08):
my family told me about.
Cantrell died on June 11th of2004.
The debate over what came downon July 15th of 1978 still
continues.
The old west adage that deadman tells no tales means we'll
never hear Rose's version ofwhat happened.
But in a ling-a lingarangle attrial, cantrell won that fight.
(24:31):
I remember this story becauseof the news coverage, especially
when 60 Minutes and Dan Retherwas involved, and there was
always a lot of questions and alot of gossip through the area.
Again, I was a college studentat the University of Wyoming at
the time, and Rock Springsdefinitely didn't have a great
(24:52):
image and I think it finally isprobably away from that, but it
took a long time for the town torecover.
But it definitely was adifferent time in our state and
it was part of our Wyoming statehistory.
Thanks for joining us today andwe hope you enjoy our podcast.
(25:13):
As per the Code of the West, weride for the brand and we ride
(25:51):
for Wyoming.
We'll be right back.
3, 2, 1.
3, 2, 1.
Go, go, go, go.
© BF-WATCH TV 2021.
Good morning and welcome to let's Talk Wyoming.
I'm Mark Hamilton, your host,and today we'll be taking a look
at our weather.
We'll talk about Wyoming cowboyfootball and that bronze boot.
We'll put a close to wintersports here in Wyoming with the
state football championships andwe'll talk about a dark time in
(00:41):
Rock Springs Wyoming history amurder trial of 1970s.
Thanks for joining us and enjoythe show.
(01:06):
Taking a look at Wyoming weatherhere on the 18th day of
November, getting close, a weekand a half away more or less
from Thanksgiving, we're gettinginto that holiday season.
Our weather here in Wyoming hasbeen pretty nice.
We had a little bit of snow onTuesday this previous week.
(01:27):
A little wet snow, a littlerain turned to snow, caused some
issue with some of the roadshere in northern Wyoming, had a
little bit of moisture, just alittle bit of a snow on Friday
night.
But right now, looking aheadfor the week, we look like we're
going to have some prettyfavorable weather.
Just taking a look at thatlong-range forecast, have family
(01:48):
coming in for Thanksgiving andneed to make a trip up to
Billings, montana to pick up forthe taxi service, so it's going
to be interesting.
I always worry aboutThanksgiving time it seems like
that's when the storms hit rightafter Thanksgiving and
everybody has to face thattravel issue.
(02:09):
So we're praying for goodweather.
But right now everything looksgood here in Wyoming.
The days are getting shorter, alittle bit of wind, but
definitely we are in that timeof year that we're used to.
Just got to make the best of it, especially with the holidays
coming forward.
We're used to you just got tomake the best of it, especially
with the holidays coming forward.
In Wyoming sports.
A disappointing Friday night inFort Collins for the Wyoming
(02:30):
Cowboys as they drop a 24-10game against CSU.
Csu got a lead and the Cowboysjust couldn't generate any
offense.
In that second half CSU reallyleft Wyoming an opportunity.
Csu scored early but they kindof I don't know they pulled off
the gas or what happened.
(02:51):
But the Cowboy defense got alittle better in that first half
it was pretty embarrassing theway CSU was running the ball.
But second half Cowboys justcouldn't do anything.
And there in the fourth quarterthey threw three passes in a
row that hit the receivers inthe hands and they dropped them.
Three different receivers andif that is indicative of the
(03:13):
Wyoming Cowboys seasons thisyear.
So right now the Cowboys are attwo and eight.
Yes, two and eight, that soundsdoesn't even sound real at 2-8.
And it doesn't look too goodgoing forward.
But always got to be positive.
They have a game on Saturday.
(03:35):
This coming Saturday they takeon the Boise State Bronx.
Boise State is right now infirst place in the Mountain West
.
So that's going to be a toughmatchup for the Cowboys with
everything that Boise State has.
And then they go on the road toplay Washington State and
(03:55):
Pullman.
And interesting, washingtonState of course doesn't have a
conference.
They used to be in the Pac-12,but Oregon State and Washington
State were left standing.
They're reorganizing a newPac-12 conference, but they have
been playing pretty goodfootball.
And then, of all teams, newMexico went in and beat them on
(04:16):
Saturday night in Pullman in areally shocking game.
So Cowboys have got to knowthat they have a chance if they
play a good air-free game andcan move the ball.
Interesting tidbit the headcoach at Washington State used
to coach at the University ofWyoming, so there'll be a little
bit of familiarity witheveryone.
(04:38):
But that will be in two weeks.
In our state here, high schoolfootball they finished up the
football season on Friday andSaturday in Laramie at War
Memorial.
They've had the fivechampionship games.
Sheridan Bronx won again.
I guess it's getting quite.
(04:58):
I guess you might as well justpencil them in next year for the
state title.
They are at a 30-plus winningstreak for 30-plus games.
I think it's 37 or 38.
I didn't get a chance to check,but let's just say they're a
juggernaut.
And they won that matchupagainst Cheyenne East
convincingly and that's just theway they've always been.
(05:21):
In the 3A, star Valley came inand played Cody a third year in
a row and in the third year in arow Star Valley defeated Cody.
Cody always has a great seasonuntil they have to play Star
Valley.
But again Star Valley won thatgame.
Also in the 2A, bighorn wasvictorious.
(05:45):
Now that's kind of strange.
Bighorn Wyoming is in SheridanCounty.
It is just south of Sheridan,the community of Bighorn.
So you have Sheridan County isthe football capital of Wyoming.
You have two state champions,pretty dominant teams, in
Sheridan High School and BighornHigh School.
(06:07):
I don't know what they havegoing there, but everybody needs
to go by and figure out what itis, whether it's the water or
what.
But Sheridan County definitelyis the title town, title county,
I should say as they came outvictorious.
County, I should say as theycame out victorious.
Also, pine Bluffs beatLingle-Fort Laramie in the
(06:27):
championship game in thenine-man football and finally in
six-man, little Snake Riverdefeated Burlington and that was
a rematch of last year's andLittle Snake came out victorious
.
So congratulations to all theplayers.
All the fans are making thetrip it is always good to get
people down there andcongratulations to all the
(06:47):
players that played, went outfor football here in the state
of Wyoming, got involved withactivities.
One side note on this I didnotice and I didn't really
realize this happened.
Of course it hadn't been reallyadvertised, but after the
championship game the StarValley and Cody teams met in the
center of the field for prayer.
(07:08):
So I guess Cody has been doingthis all season long.
So hats off to Cody High Schooland Star Valley High School for
letting those young men expresstheir self, their feelings on
Jesus Christ, our Lord andSavior, their feelings on Jesus
Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Today we want to kind of go alittle different direction.
(07:31):
A story from wildhistoryorg, andthis is about an event that
happened back in my early years.
I remember this happening inRock Springs, wyoming, ed
Cantrell, Rock Springs and BoomTime Crime by Paul Crezza.
It was Old West style, a cleanup the town fast, draw lawmen
(07:55):
acting to save his life.
Or was it an in the trenchesundercover cop about to blow the
whistle on small towncorruption?
Undercover cop about to blowthe whistle on small-town
corruption?
One could easily craftnarratives using either of these
two descriptions.
Given the events that cascadedthrough late 1970 Sweetwater
(08:16):
County, wyoming, either scenariowould share a leading character
a Rock Springs, a uniqueliberal-leaning, multicultural
island in almost whiteconservative Wyoming.
The drama went public when one.38 caliber pistol shot, fired
July 15, 1978, outside theSilver Dollar Bar in Rock
(08:39):
Springs, wyoming.
Ed Cantrell, 51 at the timerecently hired as the Rock
Springs Public Safety Director,leaned over the front passenger
seat of a police car with twodetectives seated inside, took
swift aim and shot hisundercover agent between the
eyes, michael Angel Rosa, whowas then 29.
(09:02):
Cantrell, an Indiana native andstate policeman, moved to
Wyoming in 1958.
He joined the Wyoming HighwayPatrol in 1960, stationed first
in Rock Springs for seven yearsand then Cody for four years.
Rosa, a Puerto Rican who hadlived in New York City's Spanish
Harlem, had worked in Wyomingas an undercover agent in
(09:23):
Gillette, wyoming and thenLander Wyoming.
When Cantrell hired him in late1977 for a covert drug
investigation, he contacted himand said he wanted to clean up
Rock Springs.
And Mike said this is a goodman, he's straightforward,
honest and a good guy and Ireally like him and I think he
likes me too, said spouseRebecca Rosa when interviewed
(09:47):
four days after theshooting.
Rock Springs, my immigrantgrandparents' destination a
century plus ago, began as acamp to mine coal for the Union
Pacific Railroad.
I lived there for decades,growing up and later writing
about this radical,fossil-fuel-driven overnight
transformation.
Rock Springs was a busted townin the early 1950s when the
(10:09):
Union Pacific Coal Company laidoff miners en masse after the
railroad switched to diesel.
Isolated, the city floundered,littered with leftover mining
remains and underground minetunnels that damaged the houses
built above them when thetunnels collapsed.
Politically and culturally itwas a Wyoming anomaly, derided
(10:30):
by dominant conservative stateRepublicans as a weird
phenomenon, democrat place runby unions, ragtag immigrants and
rumors of murkymafiosis.
Then, in 1971, two utilities,not sharing much information
with residents, announced plansto build the $1 billion
(10:50):
2,000-megawatt coal-fired JimBridger power plant.
Locals first welcomed theconstruction but became
increasingly nervous as workersflooded the area, doubling the
city's 11,000 population in afew years.
At the same time, developmentof oil and gas and near the
nearby town of Green River Trona, the primary source of soda ash
(11:13):
, brought more people.
These events jolted RockSprings back to riches and the
city assumed a new identity.
Quintessential western BoomtownImpact was the umbrella
description for the ensuingsalsa changes.
Job-seeking drifters campedoutside the city and waves of
incoming children filled theschools.
(11:33):
Questionable planning andzoning brought a quick build,
shoddy housing and unsightlytrailer parks.
Hunting and zoning brought aquick build, shoddy housing and
unsightly trailerparks.
Prostitutes appeared on KStreet in Rock Springs'
historical downtown bar and vicedistrict where the largely male
workforce went to drink.
Once busted locals who hunkereddown during the bad times
(11:56):
scrambled to cash in on the newloose money.
A cavalcade of boom-fueledcrime unfolded Multiple murders,
shootings, rapes and arson.
The city assumed a feel ofplain, bald-faced sleaze.
But also among the newcomerswere activists who formed a
loose coalition with feministsand younger residents.
Some founded the innovativeSweetwater County Sexual Assault
(12:17):
and Rape Task Force, whileothers caused a stir with
efforts to upgrade the countyhospital, the Rock Springs Old
Guard, the Bust-Era families whostayed in town and, until the
1970 boom, held public officefor long periods labeled
activist dissidents.
Activist dissidents In themid-1977, cbs News man Dan
(12:46):
Rather arrived in the bone-drycountry they call Sweetwater
County, pointing to his specialnight lens at K Street probing
police payoffs and drugdeliveries.
The network aired his 60-minuteportrait of Our Town.
A Washington Post reporter alsocame, noting the dingy hub of
vice in Rock Springs where theelegant hookers in large, highly
polished Cadillacs bearingout-of-state license plates
(13:09):
cruised the cold, windy streetsas their pimps shot pool in
shabby bars with cowboys andconstruction men.
Rather concluded it was all ablend of permissiveness and
criminality and beyondjournalism to establish
innocence and guilt.
He also produced a secondepisode, high Noon in Cheyenne
on state politics, primarily onGovernor Ed Hershler.
(13:32):
Governor Ed, as people calledhim, was a folksy Democrat and a
camera-whiming lawyer electedby a coalition of minority
Democrats, ranchers and moderateRepublicans.
To the dismay of conservatives.
The Republican-dominatedlegislature sparred with
Herschler but he eventually wasre-elected twice.
Rather noted Herschler'sconnection to Rock Springs
(13:55):
through state Democraticchairman and well-known local
businessman, don El Salmi.
The El Salmi family werelongtime residents and Don and
his three brothers operated alucrative boom enterprise.
Bill sold mobile homes and thencars and trucks, john a lawyer,
also on a zoning board thatgranted variances or exceptions
(14:15):
to zoning rules, including onefor his brother, paul, a motel
owner who developed workerapartments in a
commercialized-only zone.
All were linked to longtimemayor Paul Wadata Administration
, and Rathers' report wasfigured as looking the other
way.
As crime flourished AfterRathers left town, events
(14:36):
accelerated.
A state judge impaneled astatewide grand jury in November
of 1977.
One of its prime investigativetargets was Rock Springs.
Hershler's Attorney GeneralFrank Mendocino was accused of
covering up probes among thosein Rock Springs.
In early 1978, changes were inthe air in Sweetwater County
(14:59):
when activist newcomers andlocal reformers like legislator
and lawyer Fred Broussard ofGreen River organized to upend
old politics.
Two new radio stations, kugrand KRKK, offered a robust local
news along with the Casper StarTribune, were as they paid by
(15:20):
the column inch correspondent.
I learned much quickly.
Local officials got intensivepublic scrutiny and statewide
regional exposure.
Rock Springs officials wereunderstandably feeling the heat
as the grand jury investigatorspoked around.
Cantrell meanwhile was workingas Sweetwater County Sheriff
(15:41):
James Stark's undershirt sheriffwhere Wadataw hired him as the
Rock Springs Public SafetyDirector and said he gave
Cantrell full reign to tacklecrime.
In an interview 12 hours beforethe Silver Dollar Bar
confrontation, cantrell told mehe inherited a good police
department and he'd hired adetective assigned to
(16:02):
prostitution and narcoticsalmost full-time and I don't see
any relief for that situationin the immediate
future.
In the early morning of July15th Cantrell fired the shots
that changed his life and endedRose's.
Two days later Cantrell wascharged with first-degree murder
.
Sweetwater County AttorneyRobert Bass' complaint included
(16:23):
an affidavit from State Divisionof Criminal Investigation
Director Christopher Crofts,called in by Sheriff Starks to
probe the shooting.
Rosa had just been subpoenaedto appear before the state grand
jury the following Monday, july17, 1978, croft notes One of
the detectives in the car duringthe shooting, james Callis,
(16:46):
said he had called Cantrell onJuly 14 to tell him about the
subpoena and also about expensereports.
Callis had asked Rosa tocorrect.
Callis thought these weretrivial errors but cited
paranoia in Rock Springs becausethe grand jury earlier had
indicted the Wyoming LawEnforcement Academy Director for
(17:06):
Altering Travel Vouchers.
Callis later reported that whenhe met with Cantrell the night
before the shooting Cantrellbecame quite angry and at one
point said words to the effectof maybe we ought to take care
of this son of a bitch out andkill him.
Cross wrote In the earlymorning hours of July 15th,
callis and another detective metBitter and accompanied Cantrell
(17:31):
to the Silver Dollarbar.
Cantrell said he wanted to talkwith Rosa.
Callis said both detectivessitting in their squad car
watched Rosa enter the car in aslurly or angry manner and
saying what do you want?
You?
Followed by a gunshot or angrymanner and saying what do you
want?
You?
Followed by a gunshot.
They both looked to seeCantrell pointing a revolver
(17:52):
towards Rosa's genrily over thecenter of the back of the front
seat.
The avidator indicated and Rosawas sitting with his head
slumped forward.
Callous said something likeGood God, ed, why did you do
that?
Cantrell replied.
The two detectives said it wasa cold stare.
Crofts said Cantrell toldanother detective at the scene
(18:14):
that he and Rosa reached for agun.
Crofts said Cantrell toldanother detective at the scene
that he thought Rosa reached fora gun and words to the effect I
could see it in his eyes he wasgoing to get me.
It was him orme.
Cantrell was taken into a sidedoor for a Justice Court bond
hearing in downtown Rock Springsamid tight security, including
(18:37):
some armed officers on rooftopacross the street.
The hearing was closed,prompting a First Amendment
lawsuit by KTWOTV reporter PeteWilliams lawsuit by KTWO-TV
reporter Pete Williams.
Bond was set at $250,000.
Cantrell was sent forpsychiatric evaluation at the
state hospital in Evanston,wyoming, deemed sane, with Bond
(18:57):
posted by friends.
Cantrell remained free untilhis November 13th preliminary
hearing.
But a new player in the dramaarrived, well-known and
flamboyant Jackson Wyominglawyer, jerry Spence, who agreed
to defend Cantrell.
Spence at the time was early inhis career, just beginning to
build his later fame with suchtactics as Western dress and the
(19:19):
style of questioning athearings.
On the first day, the hearingwas moved to Rock Springs City
Hall to accommodate spectators.
Day, the hearing was moved toRock Springs City Hall to
accommodate spectators.
There's not a man, woman orchild in Wyoming who doesn't
believe Cantrell is guilty,spence said, adding that the
press has been victimized.
Cantrell would pleadself-defense and the case would
rest on three pitiful Psparanoia, panic and politics
(19:43):
Spence said.
After one day the hearing waspostponed until after the grand
juryfinished.
The hearing finally resumedmonths later, january 22, 1979,
and ran until February 8.
At unprecedented length, mosthearings were brief.
It gave Spence a time to workon the media with a new
(20:05):
narrative painting Rosa as anunsavory character.
When the hearing ended, justiceof the Peace.
Nana James sent the case toDistrict Court for trial.
Months later, district CourtJudge Kenneth Hamm scheduled
trial for November 13, 1979, 16months after the crime, and
granted a defense motion tochange the venue to Pinedale,
(20:28):
100 miles north, a town of about1,000 people not unfamiliar
with guns.
Prosecutors Robert Pickett andJack Smith dutifully presented
the case outline and basscomplaint.
During the two-week trial,spence painted a picture of Rosa
as a cop gone sour who may havebeen using drugs himself and
(20:48):
was also having an affair At onepoint in the trial.
Star Tribune reporter JoanBarron was assigned to cover it.
Spence had subpoenaed me, whichmade me a witness, then calling
Cantrell to testify, spencedefined the proceedings with a
single dramatic moment.
He asked Cantrell todemonstrate his quick draw with
his evidence-impounded revolver.
(21:09):
So fast Spence implied thatRosa intended to shoot was taken
out first.
Judge Hamm, who also hadconnections to the old guard
Webb in Rock Springs, gave thejury only one choice to make
find Cantrell guilty offirst-degree murder or accept
his self-defense argument.
After less than three hours theverdict came Not guilty.
(21:29):
The crowd of courtroom eruptedin
applause.
The Star Tribune letter writersexpressed mostly outrage at the
verdict, as did some RockSprings residents I interviewed
I knew he would get off, saidone Spence is a lot sharper than
the people who prosecuted it.
Another said but Green RiverStar editor and publisher Carl
(21:50):
Betts told editors that it wasover the time to move on.
We must conclude that 12 honestfolks ruled the man was
innocent.
Cantrell correctly said that nolaw enforcement agency would
want him, so he rode off therange, hired by the Wyoming
Cattlemen Association to curbrustling.
His new career attracted morenational attention Life magazine
(22:14):
with a photo spread in 1983,and then Harper's Magazine
writer James Conway portrayedhim in 1987, the last hired gun.
But for all the publicity,including later as a consultant
for the television miniseriesLonesome Dove, cantrell told
interviewers he was deep in debtand alone In Sweetwater
(22:36):
County.
Meanwhile reformers hadtriumphed in the November 1978
election.
Broussard soundly defeated12-year state senator Robert
Johnson, hamm's brother-in-lawand also Wadataw's city attorney
.
Wadataw filed a $63 millionlibel suit against Rather and
CBS, but that was tossed alongwith his equal-time FCC request.
(23:00):
Rebecca Rose's $7 millionlawsuit against Cantrell and
Roxby's officials met a similarfate.
Lawsuit against Cantrell andRock Springs officials met a
similar fate.
The grand jury meanwhile issuedthis report in November of 1978
and indicted 25 persons, mostfrom Rock Springs and Casper, on
drug delivery charges and onlytwo lower-level state officials.
(23:21):
No Rock Springs or SweetwaterCounty officials were charged
and there was no proof ofpayoffs, but the jury criticized
them for lax enforcement ofdrug and prostitution
laws.
The Osami family continues tovary business enterprises,
including the Outlaw Inn, a namethat harked back to Butch
Cassidy days in Rock Springs.
One of the grandsons, jay,recalled the city in a 2016
(23:47):
memoir Heavy.
Interviewed by the WyomingPublic Media, he said the
narrative that the family wouldtell was always the 60-minute
episode and all the stuff isjust a complete bull.
I think the truth is maybe notquite in the middle, but
definitely more tinges ofshadiness with my grandpa than
(24:08):
my family told me about.
Cantrell died on June 11th of2004.
The debate over what came downon July 15th of 1978 still
continues.
The old west adage that deadman tells no tales means we'll
never hear Rose's version ofwhat happened.
But in a ling-a lingarangle attrial, cantrell won that fight.
(24:31):
I remember this story becauseof the news coverage, especially
when 60 Minutes and Dan Retherwas involved, and there was
always a lot of questions and alot of gossip through the area.
Again, I was a college studentat the University of Wyoming at
the time, and Rock Springsdefinitely didn't have a great
(24:52):
image and I think it finally isprobably away from that, but it
took a long time for the town torecover.
But it definitely was adifferent time in our state and
it was part of our Wyoming statehistory.
Thanks for joining us today andwe hope you enjoy our podcast.
(25:13):
As per the Code of the West, weride for the brand and we ride
(25:51):
for Wyoming.
We'll be right back.
3, 2, 1.
3, 2, 1.
Go, go, go, go.
© BF-WATCH TV 2021.
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