October 17, 2024 • 24 mins
What if the unseasonably warm and dry weather wasn't just a climate anomaly, but a harbinger of more challenging times ahead for Wyoming? On this episode of "Let's Talk Wyoming", we cover the intense wildfires blazing through Hot Springs County and the Bighorn Mountains. The Elk Fire's relentless devastation, consuming over 75,000 acres, serves as a stark reminder of the fragile balance between nature and our communities. We express our solidarity with those affected and the heroic firefighters facing these unpredictable conditions. Meanwhile, a bit of unexpected humor brightens our spirits with the appearance of a "Harris Waltz for President" sign, while we commemorate the centennial of the scenic Wind River Canyon road—a journey steeped in nostalgia and beauty.
Shifting gears, our attention turns to the indomitable spirit of communities in Appalachia and North Carolina as they navigate the aftermath of recent hurricanes. The stories of resilience and unity serve as a powerful testament to human strength and self-reliance, challenging us to think critically about resource allocation amid political shifts. A touching narrative of prayer and divine intervention underscores the profound connections that bind us together. Finally, we step back in time to honor Addie McGill's legacy, whose preserved grave speaks volumes about the enduring spirit of the West and our dedication to Wyoming’s rich history. Join us for an episode rooted in reflection, remembrance, and the shared journey of overcoming adversity.
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Episode Transcript
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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 continued warm weatherhere in Wyoming.
We'll talk about our fires.
We'll take a look at somecowboy football.
We'll talk about some otherissues going on in the country
with these storms that arehitting the East Coast and the
(00:49):
East Coast.
We'll have a story on agravesite that has withstood the
passing of time here in thestate of Wyoming.
Thanks for joining us.
I hope you enjoy the show.
Taking a look at Wyoming weatherhere on the 10th day of October
Hot and dry, hot and dry.
Just unbelievable our weatherright now.
(01:10):
Across the state it is hot andit is dry.
Don't see any relief.
We haven't really had a majorfreeze yet.
Got pretty close, got down toabout 32, but last night woke up
this morning it was 52 degreesand looking at the long-range
forecast here in Wyoming itlooks dry and hot, unseasonably
(01:31):
warm.
I don't know when this is goingto stop and with the fires,
that's the big news here.
Our elk fire, which is theclosest to us here in Hot
Springs County, is directlynortheast of us, on the north
end of the Bighorn Mountains.
It's affecting that area fromthe Bighorns all the way down
(01:55):
into Story.
It's at the point of Story,affecting Bighorn.
It has got over to Tongue Riverand Dayton Big Horn.
It has got over to Tongue Riverand Dayton.
It has been just unbelievable.
Last I saw over 75,000 acreshave been destroyed and with
(02:18):
these temperatures there's noend in sight.
The smoke has just beenhorrendous.
We have had days where it'shard to be outside and we don't
even live near the fire.
I know there's days in sheridanwhere they've had told people
that more or less need to stayindoors and the impact it's had
on animals all the ranchers inthe area had to move livestock
(02:40):
their cows out, get them shippedto safe spots.
Also Also affects every othertype of animal, their horses and
we get into wildlife.
That's just unbelievable.
You're pushing a lot ofwildlife out of their habitat
and they've got to go somewhereand that's from everything you
can think of is going to begoing somewhere to get away from
(03:02):
this.
And then, after the fire isultimately put out, most likely
when it snows sometime I wouldassume in November and we get
enough snow, we'll put the fireout, but there'll be no feed in
those areas for these animalsand it's having an impact
(03:25):
because some of these areas youknow they are cattlemen are
grazing their cows and it's beenwarm, but there is some still
grasses and stuff to graze theanimals.
Now that they're going to moveout of there and that's gone,
now they're going to end uphaving to buy hay to feed these
animals and it just throws thewhole cattle operation out of
whack.
The wildlife they're going toneed something to eat, so
(03:49):
they're going to start movinginto areas trying to find feed.
It's catastrophic.
It's a sad situation.
I know I said in a podcast backin the spring, early summer we
had a very, very wet spring, alot of rain, and when we get a
lot of rain we get a lot ofgreen, get a lot of grass
growing, and unfortunately wejust can't continue to seem to
(04:13):
get rain all throughout summer.
And what happens?
Wind and dry, dry and a lot ofwind dries out the grass and
lightning and other things causefires and it's terrible.
Right now, of course, we havefires also over in the Dubois
country, so our state definitelyhas been impacted by these
(04:36):
fires.
But I pray for the people overthere.
The firefighters have beenfighting an endless battle and
again, thanks for all they'redoing.
But the way it's moving now it'smoving down the southeast side
of the Bighorns and when you seeit at Story and above Bighorn,
(05:01):
which is south of Sheridanitself, it gets to be a little
worrisome and with the way thewind's been changing it could go
about any place and so it couldimpact a lot of homes.
Now that area does have a lotof houses in that area, and it
continues on.
(05:21):
You're going to go down themountain and end up in Buffalo,
continues on, You're going to godown the mountain and end up in
Buffalo.
And the next couple weeks aregoing to be just wait and see
what happens.
But this morning it was hot andwindy, wind was coming out of
the south.
So now suddenly the fire isgoing to change directions and
suddenly you're out having totry to evacuate people and
(05:43):
they're trying to get a fireline.
What happens in thesesituations?
That I've been told.
I'm not a professionalfirefighter, but you set these
fire lines to try to stop it andthen you get these crazy winds
coming.
It blows everything over thefire line and before you know it
you have the fire started again, just continuing on.
(06:04):
So thoughts and prayers go toall those people fire line and
before you know it you have thefire started again, just
continuing on.
So thoughts and prayers go toall those people that are
impacted by our Wyoming fires.
And it's just been one of thosetype of years, folks.
But again, thoughts and prayersfor everyone involved.
Also in other news, around herein Hot Springs County we're
getting closer to the election.
(06:25):
I did see my first ever HarrisWaltz for President sign outside
of town.
It was amazing that I'd neverseen anything like that before.
I kind of contributed to theCOVID and you start getting
people moving in the area andthings start to change.
Their whole community starts tochange and I think we're really
(06:47):
seeing it here in our community.
But in our community we had thecelebration about a week ago
the 100th year of the highway orthe road through Wind River
Canyon.
Can't believe it's been ahundred years.
Drove that for 16, 17 years formy work from here in
Thermopolis over to Lycite,wyoming and back and so very
(07:11):
familiar with the trip.
It's a scenic drive, it's arelaxing drive, but a hundred
years old.
So I guess we'll see whathappens.
I should say what the next 100years has in store for us.
Also in other happenings.
I did get to make a trip up tonorthern Montana.
I went to an area which issouth of the Bear Paws Mountains
(07:35):
in northern Montana, whichwould be south of Havre and
Chinook country and just northof the Missouri Breaks.
It's quite the area up there.
It's about a six-and half sevenhour trip up here from
Thermopolis.
Had to go up to take care ofsome business on a pipeline and
(07:56):
haven't been up that way forquite a while and just enjoyed
the trip, making that trip upand taking in a lot of the stuff
and seeing how things havechanged.
But when I got up to where Ineeded to go off of the breaks
and up off what we call CowIsland Trail, it hadn't changed
much.
It was pretty much the way it'salways been.
(08:18):
But it's out in the middle ofnowhere, pretty much untouched
from any type of outsideinfluence.
The few people that go throughthere are mainly the ranchers
that run cattle through there.
Also, hunting season's comingup There'll be hunters out there
, but the rest of the year it'spretty quiet, not much happening
.
It's big gumbo country so youdon't want to be out there.
(08:39):
If it rains you won't goanywhere.
No matter what you put on yourtires.
It is kind of crazy.
So when you see a rain cloudyou run for dry ground to try to
find a way out.
But made the trip up Again,remembering that there's so many
parts of this country thatnobody's ever been to and it is
kind of nice to go someplacewhere you're the only person
(09:01):
there and there's nobody around.
And again, nice area Love thepeople up there.
Just had a great trip.
Made that trip back.
Also have to catch up on ourWyoming Cowboys.
Cowboys had a bye week last weekso they ended up with a
proverbial victory against BYENot BYU, but BYE Bye.
(09:22):
They came out victorious.
They are in action thisSaturday as they take on San
Diego State in Laramie at WarMemorial.
It'll be interesting to seewhat adjustments the Cowboys
made after their two-week rest.
A lot of schools you end upwith this bye during the year.
It's kind of nice to have andget a chance to get some players
(09:46):
healed up, take a little bit oftime, step away for just a
little bit from football, kindof recharge yourself mentally
and then get back on the fieldand finish out the season strong
.
So the Cowboys right now withthat lone victory against the
Air Force Academy two weeks agoare now back at it again.
(10:07):
Maybe they can get a two-gamewinning streak Now.
San Diego State in the pastyears has been just a juggernaut
.
They have always had strongteams but they've seemed to have
some issues in the last fewyears of getting back to that
point.
I know they are not that goodthis year.
I should say they have, I think, one or two victories.
(10:27):
But again it's a Mountain Westgame and, no matter what, when
you're playing football whoevershows up is the one that's going
to win.
So big game for the Cowboys atthe War Memorial Stadium there
in Laramie on Saturday.
One other thing this doesn'tpertain to the state of Wyoming,
(10:47):
but I've followed all thehurricane activity out in the
eastern part of the US, justheart-wrenching to see what's
happened.
I've followed quite a bit ofstuff from what's going on up in
Appalachia in North Carolina.
That storm was so crazy the wayit guided itself up through
(11:10):
Florida and Georgia andTennessee and just kind of
parked in North Carolina andthose people there.
I've watched a lot ofindependent journalists that
have been up there in differentsources and those people are
tough up there.
They are taking care ofthemselves.
They don't even know how manypeople have died because of this
incident.
(11:30):
There is no telephone, there'snothing, and some of the stories
it's just heart-wrenching tosee.
But these people are pullingtogether.
They are pulling together andin that area is where Billy
Graham's home was, where helived, and he always talked
(11:51):
about God's army.
And boy, god's army is up thereworking right now.
People are stepping up and outhelping each other.
A lot of people are coming inand doing stuff and then I tell
you what people don't want tomess around with the US of A,
(12:12):
because we got people out therethat can get it done.
They're not going to waitaround, don't need government
help.
They're going to go get it donebecause they know, at the end
of the day, the only people thatthey can depend on is each
other.
And it kind of warms your heart.
I think that's kind of amessage that we have going
forward that we all need toremember.
(12:33):
The only people we can dependon is us, because the way we are
sitting right now, we'retalking about the money that's
being sent overseas.
How much money has been sent toUkraine here recently, while
this is going on, they sentanother $150 million or more to
(12:54):
Lebanon and they don't have anymoney to help these people.
And we've got to start wakingup people on what's going on in
the country right now.
It's a crazy time and we betterstart bonding, getting together
, getting with our neighbors,because we're going to be the
people that are going to bestanding.
We can only take care ofourselves because there's nobody
(13:15):
coming, and so my hat's off toall the people.
Florida just had anotherhurricane hit, just unbelievable
Two back-to-back.
Now, come on, people, andthere's been a lot of
publications, a lot of stuff putout about weather modification.
People kind of laugh at it, butit's been going on and I've
(13:35):
seen some very credible peoplewith the evidence and it looks
like this is being put togetheron purpose and there's actually
a report that I saw and I'm notgoing to say it's 100%, but I
did see they were talking therecould be another hurricane
stacked up and right around thecorner that's going to hit
Florida again.
(13:56):
So I tell you what Wyoming,here we're burning up and on the
east coast they're getting beatto death.
Pardon the pun.
They're getting hit witheverything under the sun with
these tornadoes.
And I tell you what?
There's a lot of things going onin this country right now and
(14:18):
we have an election coming upand people need to start doing
some critical thinking on what'shappening and what's going to
be the best option for us goingforward.
We need to throw out somepolitical leanings and just look
at what in the heck are wedoing and what do we need to do
to right this ship?
(14:38):
What do we need to do to rightour ship?
And we know all the answer,what that answer is.
In God we trust, and I wantedto take a chance to share a post
that I saw on X and I thoughtit was rather touching.
For the last few days, we allhave been uncomfortable about
(15:00):
the devastating storm that washeaded our way, an anomaly that
was not only threatening thestate of Florida but the entire
country as a whole.
After seeing the devastation itcaused For our brothers and
sisters in North Carolina andTennessee specifically, we had a
fearful idea of what to expect.
In fact, it was broadcast to bemuch worse than Hill Lane.
(15:23):
Not only did these last fewdays awaken us to so much truth
about our government and ourenemy, but it brought us all
together in powerful prayer.
As a nation, we united and gotdown on our knees and prayed to
the only one who knew who wouldprotect us, our Almighty Father
(15:45):
God.
He answered our prayers, heweakened the storm, he protected
us and covered us in his lovingarms.
Here's where I witnessed anincredible moment.
Early in the morning, all myneighbors and myself emerged
from our homes to step out andsee what damage was left from
the storm.
The storm had passed, but thesky was still cloudy and gray.
(16:07):
It was gloomy and cold.
About five of my neighborsgathered in my driveway and we
began to discuss ourexpectations and our experiences
from these storms.
We started to converse aboutthe power of prayer and how we
could have experienced so muchworse.
We discussed how truly blessedwe were that things weren't as
(16:29):
bad as they could have been.
I then brought up the fact thatall I was seeing here on X were
people praying for us from allover the world and how it was
because of all our prayers toGod we were saved.
Immediately after I said that,the brightest sun I'd ever seen
shined so brightly through thepalm trees.
It was so powerful and sobright.
(16:51):
We all looked up at it insilence, trying to shade the
brightness from our eyes.
In unison, the six of usshouted wow, we could feel the
heat.
It was so bright.
We immediately knew God waswith us.
He shined his light so brightbecause he confirmed our prayers
were answered.
(17:11):
That was confirmation to all ofus that he is always here and
always listening.
So thank you for all yourprayers, thank you for trusting
in God.
He is healing our nation.
No weapon formed against uswill ever prosper.
In Jesus' holy name, amen.
And finally, today, whilehistory, it's amazed me through
(17:36):
a lot of stories that I've readand I've shared here on the
podcast about the people thattraveled through our state years
and years ago the earliersettlers, and a lot of them
didn't make it, and there are alot of graves out there that are
still standing that are just atestament to what these people
(17:56):
went through.
And one that I saw mostrecently on wildhistoryorg was
Ada McGill's grave.
Late in June of 1864, theOregon-bound McGill family of
Brown County, kansas, found thattheir three-year-old daughter,
(18:20):
ada, was sick with dysenterywhen they camped near Fort
Laramie.
After a stop while the child'shealth improved, the family
continued along the trailanother 100 miles to a spot near
present-day Glenrock, wyomingin Converse County.
Fortunately for the McGills,they were traveling in advance
of the troubles that will lead afew weeks later to the deaths
on the trail of Mary Kelly andMartin Ringo.
(18:41):
Long simmering tensions alongthe trail broke out in sporadic
warfare later that summerbetween immigrants and the
people of Lakota, sioux,cheyenne and Arapaho tribes.
There were eight in theimmigrant family, nancy and
Caleb.
There were eight in theimmigrant family, nancy and
Caleb McGill and their sixchildren.
Ada was the youngest child,benjamin the oldest was 15.
(19:03):
Caleb McGill had served in theMexican War as a teamster
hauling US Army provisions inox-drawn wagons.
Later he worked as a freighteron the Oregon Trail between
Missouri and Fort Laramie.
Years later he told of atwo-day walk in bitter cold that
he and a partner made to findstray oxen.
(19:24):
It was so cold that the men onthe return journey would lie
down at night beside the oxenfor extra warmth they offered.
In early July of 1864, thefamily camped alongside Deer
Creek near present-day Glen Rock.
Ada again became sick, but thenext morning seemed better.
The McGills continued on buthad gone only a few miles when
(19:47):
she became very ill.
They stopped and camped thatnight, july 3rd she died, as
Caleb told the story years later, from the boards of an
abandoned wagon.
The McGills made a coffin andburied the girl in her Sunday
best calico dress, as the familyremembered it later they heaped
stones on the grave to keepwolves and coyotes out and went
(20:10):
on towards Oregon.
According to historian andretired school teacher Randy
Brown, in Oregon they settled inPolk County south of Portland
in Willamette Valley.
Brown notes that most of theinformation on the McGill family
came from WW Morrison ofCheyenne, a freight conductor on
the Union Pacific.
In the 1940s Morrison contactedthe McGill family members still
(20:35):
living at the time in Oregon.
No contemporary family lettersor diaries have survived so far
as is known, and the grave isnot mentioned in any other
immigrant diaries that have sofar turned up.
The Oregon Trail route remainedan important transportation
corridor after the end of thecovered wagon era corridor.
(21:00):
After the end of the coveredwagon era In 1888, a new
railroad passed close to Ada'sgrave but did not disturb it.
In 1912, while engineerssurveyed for a better road
between Glenrock and Casper,they found that the McGill grave
, on a knoll 20 feet north ofthe old trail and marked with a
rough inscribed headstone, wouldlie right in the center line of
the new road Surveyor LC Bishop, who later would become Wyoming
(21:24):
.
State Engineer or Chief WaterOfficer decided to move the
grave 30 feet north to the edgeof the new road Under a large
stone slab, about five feet down, according to Brown Bishop and
a shovel crew of convicts fromConverse County Jail found
pieces of the little girl'sskull, a few small bones, some
pearl buttons and a few cutnails.
(21:46):
Bishop carved the new stonewith the same inscription as the
original and buried theoriginal about three foot deep
in the new grave.
Later in the decade, oil wasdiscovered in the nearby Big
Muddy Field and the town ofParkerton sprang up.
Chicago and Northwest officialsbuilt the Parkerton Passenger
(22:08):
Depot next to the grave.
The station operated until 1935.
By 1950s the town was mostlyabandoned.
The railroad line was abandonedand the tracks were removed in
1980.
Addie McGill's grave survives,protected by a sturdy fence and
marked with a plaque placed bythe Oregon-California Trail
(22:30):
Association.
Just another great story fromwildhistoryorg.
From wildhistoryorg, you havefaith in humanity when people go
out of their way to move thegrave.
So it wouldn't be disturbed togo to the work of redoing the
headstone.
And today there is a historicalmarker at the grave of that
young lady who died on a wagontrain in the late 1800s.
(22:54):
May God be with her.
Addie McGill, thanks forjoining us today and we hope you
enjoy our podcast.
As per the code of the West, weride for the brand and we ride
(23:15):
for Wyoming.
3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1, go, go, go ¶¶.
(23:55):
©.
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 continued warm weatherhere in Wyoming.
We'll talk about our fires.
We'll take a look at somecowboy football.
We'll talk about some otherissues going on in the country
with these storms that arehitting the East Coast and the
(00:49):
East Coast.
We'll have a story on agravesite that has withstood the
passing of time here in thestate of Wyoming.
Thanks for joining us.
I hope you enjoy the show.
Taking a look at Wyoming weatherhere on the 10th day of October
Hot and dry, hot and dry.
Just unbelievable our weatherright now.
(01:10):
Across the state it is hot andit is dry.
Don't see any relief.
We haven't really had a majorfreeze yet.
Got pretty close, got down toabout 32, but last night woke up
this morning it was 52 degreesand looking at the long-range
forecast here in Wyoming itlooks dry and hot, unseasonably
(01:31):
warm.
I don't know when this is goingto stop and with the fires,
that's the big news here.
Our elk fire, which is theclosest to us here in Hot
Springs County, is directlynortheast of us, on the north
end of the Bighorn Mountains.
It's affecting that area fromthe Bighorns all the way down
(01:55):
into Story.
It's at the point of Story,affecting Bighorn.
It has got over to Tongue Riverand Dayton Big Horn.
It has got over to Tongue Riverand Dayton.
It has been just unbelievable.
Last I saw over 75,000 acreshave been destroyed and with
(02:18):
these temperatures there's noend in sight.
The smoke has just beenhorrendous.
We have had days where it'shard to be outside and we don't
even live near the fire.
I know there's days in sheridanwhere they've had told people
that more or less need to stayindoors and the impact it's had
on animals all the ranchers inthe area had to move livestock
(02:40):
their cows out, get them shippedto safe spots.
Also Also affects every othertype of animal, their horses and
we get into wildlife.
That's just unbelievable.
You're pushing a lot ofwildlife out of their habitat
and they've got to go somewhereand that's from everything you
can think of is going to begoing somewhere to get away from
(03:02):
this.
And then, after the fire isultimately put out, most likely
when it snows sometime I wouldassume in November and we get
enough snow, we'll put the fireout, but there'll be no feed in
those areas for these animalsand it's having an impact
(03:25):
because some of these areas youknow they are cattlemen are
grazing their cows and it's beenwarm, but there is some still
grasses and stuff to graze theanimals.
Now that they're going to moveout of there and that's gone,
now they're going to end uphaving to buy hay to feed these
animals and it just throws thewhole cattle operation out of
whack.
The wildlife they're going toneed something to eat, so
(03:49):
they're going to start movinginto areas trying to find feed.
It's catastrophic.
It's a sad situation.
I know I said in a podcast backin the spring, early summer we
had a very, very wet spring, alot of rain, and when we get a
lot of rain we get a lot ofgreen, get a lot of grass
growing, and unfortunately wejust can't continue to seem to
(04:13):
get rain all throughout summer.
And what happens?
Wind and dry, dry and a lot ofwind dries out the grass and
lightning and other things causefires and it's terrible.
Right now, of course, we havefires also over in the Dubois
country, so our state definitelyhas been impacted by these
(04:36):
fires.
But I pray for the people overthere.
The firefighters have beenfighting an endless battle and
again, thanks for all they'redoing.
But the way it's moving now it'smoving down the southeast side
of the Bighorns and when you seeit at Story and above Bighorn,
(05:01):
which is south of Sheridanitself, it gets to be a little
worrisome and with the way thewind's been changing it could go
about any place and so it couldimpact a lot of homes.
Now that area does have a lotof houses in that area, and it
continues on.
(05:21):
You're going to go down themountain and end up in Buffalo,
continues on, You're going to godown the mountain and end up in
Buffalo.
And the next couple weeks aregoing to be just wait and see
what happens.
But this morning it was hot andwindy, wind was coming out of
the south.
So now suddenly the fire isgoing to change directions and
suddenly you're out having totry to evacuate people and
(05:43):
they're trying to get a fireline.
What happens in thesesituations?
That I've been told.
I'm not a professionalfirefighter, but you set these
fire lines to try to stop it andthen you get these crazy winds
coming.
It blows everything over thefire line and before you know it
you have the fire started again, just continuing on.
(06:04):
So thoughts and prayers go toall those people fire line and
before you know it you have thefire started again, just
continuing on.
So thoughts and prayers go toall those people that are
impacted by our Wyoming fires.
And it's just been one of thosetype of years, folks.
But again, thoughts and prayersfor everyone involved.
Also in other news, around herein Hot Springs County we're
getting closer to the election.
(06:25):
I did see my first ever HarrisWaltz for President sign outside
of town.
It was amazing that I'd neverseen anything like that before.
I kind of contributed to theCOVID and you start getting
people moving in the area andthings start to change.
Their whole community starts tochange and I think we're really
(06:47):
seeing it here in our community.
But in our community we had thecelebration about a week ago
the 100th year of the highway orthe road through Wind River
Canyon.
Can't believe it's been ahundred years.
Drove that for 16, 17 years formy work from here in
Thermopolis over to Lycite,wyoming and back and so very
(07:11):
familiar with the trip.
It's a scenic drive, it's arelaxing drive, but a hundred
years old.
So I guess we'll see whathappens.
I should say what the next 100years has in store for us.
Also in other happenings.
I did get to make a trip up tonorthern Montana.
I went to an area which issouth of the Bear Paws Mountains
(07:35):
in northern Montana, whichwould be south of Havre and
Chinook country and just northof the Missouri Breaks.
It's quite the area up there.
It's about a six-and half sevenhour trip up here from
Thermopolis.
Had to go up to take care ofsome business on a pipeline and
(07:56):
haven't been up that way forquite a while and just enjoyed
the trip, making that trip upand taking in a lot of the stuff
and seeing how things havechanged.
But when I got up to where Ineeded to go off of the breaks
and up off what we call CowIsland Trail, it hadn't changed
much.
It was pretty much the way it'salways been.
(08:18):
But it's out in the middle ofnowhere, pretty much untouched
from any type of outsideinfluence.
The few people that go throughthere are mainly the ranchers
that run cattle through there.
Also, hunting season's comingup There'll be hunters out there
, but the rest of the year it'spretty quiet, not much happening
.
It's big gumbo country so youdon't want to be out there.
(08:39):
If it rains you won't goanywhere.
No matter what you put on yourtires.
It is kind of crazy.
So when you see a rain cloudyou run for dry ground to try to
find a way out.
But made the trip up Again,remembering that there's so many
parts of this country thatnobody's ever been to and it is
kind of nice to go someplacewhere you're the only person
(09:01):
there and there's nobody around.
And again, nice area Love thepeople up there.
Just had a great trip.
Made that trip back.
Also have to catch up on ourWyoming Cowboys.
Cowboys had a bye week last weekso they ended up with a
proverbial victory against BYENot BYU, but BYE Bye.
(09:22):
They came out victorious.
They are in action thisSaturday as they take on San
Diego State in Laramie at WarMemorial.
It'll be interesting to seewhat adjustments the Cowboys
made after their two-week rest.
A lot of schools you end upwith this bye during the year.
It's kind of nice to have andget a chance to get some players
(09:46):
healed up, take a little bit oftime, step away for just a
little bit from football, kindof recharge yourself mentally
and then get back on the fieldand finish out the season strong
.
So the Cowboys right now withthat lone victory against the
Air Force Academy two weeks agoare now back at it again.
(10:07):
Maybe they can get a two-gamewinning streak Now.
San Diego State in the pastyears has been just a juggernaut
.
They have always had strongteams but they've seemed to have
some issues in the last fewyears of getting back to that
point.
I know they are not that goodthis year.
I should say they have, I think, one or two victories.
(10:27):
But again it's a Mountain Westgame and, no matter what, when
you're playing football whoevershows up is the one that's going
to win.
So big game for the Cowboys atthe War Memorial Stadium there
in Laramie on Saturday.
One other thing this doesn'tpertain to the state of Wyoming,
(10:47):
but I've followed all thehurricane activity out in the
eastern part of the US, justheart-wrenching to see what's
happened.
I've followed quite a bit ofstuff from what's going on up in
Appalachia in North Carolina.
That storm was so crazy the wayit guided itself up through
(11:10):
Florida and Georgia andTennessee and just kind of
parked in North Carolina andthose people there.
I've watched a lot ofindependent journalists that
have been up there in differentsources and those people are
tough up there.
They are taking care ofthemselves.
They don't even know how manypeople have died because of this
incident.
(11:30):
There is no telephone, there'snothing, and some of the stories
it's just heart-wrenching tosee.
But these people are pullingtogether.
They are pulling together andin that area is where Billy
Graham's home was, where helived, and he always talked
(11:51):
about God's army.
And boy, god's army is up thereworking right now.
People are stepping up and outhelping each other.
A lot of people are coming inand doing stuff and then I tell
you what people don't want tomess around with the US of A,
(12:12):
because we got people out therethat can get it done.
They're not going to waitaround, don't need government
help.
They're going to go get it donebecause they know, at the end
of the day, the only people thatthey can depend on is each
other.
And it kind of warms your heart.
I think that's kind of amessage that we have going
forward that we all need toremember.
(12:33):
The only people we can dependon is us, because the way we are
sitting right now, we'retalking about the money that's
being sent overseas.
How much money has been sent toUkraine here recently, while
this is going on, they sentanother $150 million or more to
(12:54):
Lebanon and they don't have anymoney to help these people.
And we've got to start wakingup people on what's going on in
the country right now.
It's a crazy time and we betterstart bonding, getting together
, getting with our neighbors,because we're going to be the
people that are going to bestanding.
We can only take care ofourselves because there's nobody
(13:15):
coming, and so my hat's off toall the people.
Florida just had anotherhurricane hit, just unbelievable
Two back-to-back.
Now, come on, people, andthere's been a lot of
publications, a lot of stuff putout about weather modification.
People kind of laugh at it, butit's been going on and I've
(13:35):
seen some very credible peoplewith the evidence and it looks
like this is being put togetheron purpose and there's actually
a report that I saw and I'm notgoing to say it's 100%, but I
did see they were talking therecould be another hurricane
stacked up and right around thecorner that's going to hit
Florida again.
(13:56):
So I tell you what Wyoming,here we're burning up and on the
east coast they're getting beatto death.
Pardon the pun.
They're getting hit witheverything under the sun with
these tornadoes.
And I tell you what?
There's a lot of things going onin this country right now and
(14:18):
we have an election coming upand people need to start doing
some critical thinking on what'shappening and what's going to
be the best option for us goingforward.
We need to throw out somepolitical leanings and just look
at what in the heck are wedoing and what do we need to do
to right this ship?
(14:38):
What do we need to do to rightour ship?
And we know all the answer,what that answer is.
In God we trust, and I wantedto take a chance to share a post
that I saw on X and I thoughtit was rather touching.
For the last few days, we allhave been uncomfortable about
(15:00):
the devastating storm that washeaded our way, an anomaly that
was not only threatening thestate of Florida but the entire
country as a whole.
After seeing the devastation itcaused For our brothers and
sisters in North Carolina andTennessee specifically, we had a
fearful idea of what to expect.
In fact, it was broadcast to bemuch worse than Hill Lane.
(15:23):
Not only did these last fewdays awaken us to so much truth
about our government and ourenemy, but it brought us all
together in powerful prayer.
As a nation, we united and gotdown on our knees and prayed to
the only one who knew who wouldprotect us, our Almighty Father
(15:45):
God.
He answered our prayers, heweakened the storm, he protected
us and covered us in his lovingarms.
Here's where I witnessed anincredible moment.
Early in the morning, all myneighbors and myself emerged
from our homes to step out andsee what damage was left from
the storm.
The storm had passed, but thesky was still cloudy and gray.
(16:07):
It was gloomy and cold.
About five of my neighborsgathered in my driveway and we
began to discuss ourexpectations and our experiences
from these storms.
We started to converse aboutthe power of prayer and how we
could have experienced so muchworse.
We discussed how truly blessedwe were that things weren't as
(16:29):
bad as they could have been.
I then brought up the fact thatall I was seeing here on X were
people praying for us from allover the world and how it was
because of all our prayers toGod we were saved.
Immediately after I said that,the brightest sun I'd ever seen
shined so brightly through thepalm trees.
It was so powerful and sobright.
(16:51):
We all looked up at it insilence, trying to shade the
brightness from our eyes.
In unison, the six of usshouted wow, we could feel the
heat.
It was so bright.
We immediately knew God waswith us.
He shined his light so brightbecause he confirmed our prayers
were answered.
(17:11):
That was confirmation to all ofus that he is always here and
always listening.
So thank you for all yourprayers, thank you for trusting
in God.
He is healing our nation.
No weapon formed against uswill ever prosper.
In Jesus' holy name, amen.
And finally, today, whilehistory, it's amazed me through
(17:36):
a lot of stories that I've readand I've shared here on the
podcast about the people thattraveled through our state years
and years ago the earliersettlers, and a lot of them
didn't make it, and there are alot of graves out there that are
still standing that are just atestament to what these people
(17:56):
went through.
And one that I saw mostrecently on wildhistoryorg was
Ada McGill's grave.
Late in June of 1864, theOregon-bound McGill family of
Brown County, kansas, found thattheir three-year-old daughter,
(18:20):
ada, was sick with dysenterywhen they camped near Fort
Laramie.
After a stop while the child'shealth improved, the family
continued along the trailanother 100 miles to a spot near
present-day Glenrock, wyomingin Converse County.
Fortunately for the McGills,they were traveling in advance
of the troubles that will lead afew weeks later to the deaths
on the trail of Mary Kelly andMartin Ringo.
(18:41):
Long simmering tensions alongthe trail broke out in sporadic
warfare later that summerbetween immigrants and the
people of Lakota, sioux,cheyenne and Arapaho tribes.
There were eight in theimmigrant family, nancy and
Caleb.
There were eight in theimmigrant family, nancy and
Caleb McGill and their sixchildren.
Ada was the youngest child,benjamin the oldest was 15.
(19:03):
Caleb McGill had served in theMexican War as a teamster
hauling US Army provisions inox-drawn wagons.
Later he worked as a freighteron the Oregon Trail between
Missouri and Fort Laramie.
Years later he told of atwo-day walk in bitter cold that
he and a partner made to findstray oxen.
(19:24):
It was so cold that the men onthe return journey would lie
down at night beside the oxenfor extra warmth they offered.
In early July of 1864, thefamily camped alongside Deer
Creek near present-day Glen Rock.
Ada again became sick, but thenext morning seemed better.
The McGills continued on buthad gone only a few miles when
(19:47):
she became very ill.
They stopped and camped thatnight, july 3rd she died, as
Caleb told the story years later, from the boards of an
abandoned wagon.
The McGills made a coffin andburied the girl in her Sunday
best calico dress, as the familyremembered it later they heaped
stones on the grave to keepwolves and coyotes out and went
(20:10):
on towards Oregon.
According to historian andretired school teacher Randy
Brown, in Oregon they settled inPolk County south of Portland
in Willamette Valley.
Brown notes that most of theinformation on the McGill family
came from WW Morrison ofCheyenne, a freight conductor on
the Union Pacific.
In the 1940s Morrison contactedthe McGill family members still
(20:35):
living at the time in Oregon.
No contemporary family lettersor diaries have survived so far
as is known, and the grave isnot mentioned in any other
immigrant diaries that have sofar turned up.
The Oregon Trail route remainedan important transportation
corridor after the end of thecovered wagon era corridor.
(21:00):
After the end of the coveredwagon era In 1888, a new
railroad passed close to Ada'sgrave but did not disturb it.
In 1912, while engineerssurveyed for a better road
between Glenrock and Casper,they found that the McGill grave
, on a knoll 20 feet north ofthe old trail and marked with a
rough inscribed headstone, wouldlie right in the center line of
the new road Surveyor LC Bishop, who later would become Wyoming
(21:24):
.
State Engineer or Chief WaterOfficer decided to move the
grave 30 feet north to the edgeof the new road Under a large
stone slab, about five feet down, according to Brown Bishop and
a shovel crew of convicts fromConverse County Jail found
pieces of the little girl'sskull, a few small bones, some
pearl buttons and a few cutnails.
(21:46):
Bishop carved the new stonewith the same inscription as the
original and buried theoriginal about three foot deep
in the new grave.
Later in the decade, oil wasdiscovered in the nearby Big
Muddy Field and the town ofParkerton sprang up.
Chicago and Northwest officialsbuilt the Parkerton Passenger
(22:08):
Depot next to the grave.
The station operated until 1935.
By 1950s the town was mostlyabandoned.
The railroad line was abandonedand the tracks were removed in
1980.
Addie McGill's grave survives,protected by a sturdy fence and
marked with a plaque placed bythe Oregon-California Trail
(22:30):
Association.
Just another great story fromwildhistoryorg.
From wildhistoryorg, you havefaith in humanity when people go
out of their way to move thegrave.
So it wouldn't be disturbed togo to the work of redoing the
headstone.
And today there is a historicalmarker at the grave of that
young lady who died on a wagontrain in the late 1800s.
(22:54):
May God be with her.
Addie McGill, thanks forjoining us today and we hope you
enjoy our podcast.
As per the code of the West, weride for the brand and we ride
(23:15):
for Wyoming.
3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1, go, go, go ¶¶.
(23:55):
©.
Bf-watch TV 2021.
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