November 1, 2024 • 25 mins
Could a winter wonderland be both a blessing and a curse for Wyoming? Join us as we unpack the latest weather patterns that are blanketing the state. The fresh snowfall might quench the elk fire but poses a real dilemma for farmers in the Bighorn Basin trying to salvage their beet harvest. As the clocks inch backwards for daylight saving time, we're diving into Wyoming's debate on following Arizona's lead in axing the seasonal switch. For sports enthusiasts, we'll analyze the recent woes of the Wyoming Cowboys football team and spotlight the buzz around the promising men's and women's basketball squads gearing up to hit the hardwood.
Our exploration doesn't stop with current events. We're peeling back the layers of Cheyenne's storied past—from its roots as a Union Pacific Railroad town to its rise as a vibrant commerce hub. Learn how this resilient city overcame early doubts, with robust support from the military and entrepreneurial livestock ventures, leading to the legendary Cheyenne Frontier Days. Fast forward to today, Cheyenne's economic landscape is thriving, thanks to its strategic location and business-friendly climate. As we inch closer to the ballot boxes, we cast an eye towards the high-stakes Montana Senate race, while Wyoming takes a breather with no major statewide contests on the immediate horizon.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
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 Wyoming weather and ourfirst snow Daylight saving time
this weekend.
We'll also talk about Wyomingfootball and some men's and
women's basketball, also theelections, and we'll have a
(00:36):
moment to reflect on 399, thequeen of the Tetons.
Thanks for joining us.
Hope you enjoy the show.
Taking a look at warmingweather here on the 30th day of
(01:04):
October, snow on the ground hada really good storm go through
all day yesterday.
Rain turned to a wet, slushysnow, good moisture and of
course it's going to be reallyeffective with these fires.
I think this pretty well couldput the end of the elk fire
across the hill from us andacross the state.
(01:27):
I think this is going to reallyhelp conditions.
Again, it always affectssomebody.
The farmers here in the BighornBasin are in the middle of
their beet harvest and so someof those areas might not have
got as much moisture.
It seemed like these stormshave kind of missed parts of the
central basin, but they stillhave a lot of beets to dig.
Wet ground kind of shuts thatdown, but not for long.
(01:50):
As dry as that ground is,they'll be back up and going.
I see the temperatures aregoing to come back up to really,
really warm, but I did seemaybe 50 by the weekend.
So I think we're in thatpattern here.
Coming into November we willhave these type of days, some
nice days, a storm rollingthrough and with daylight
(02:11):
savings time.
We're going to fall backSaturday night, get an extra
hour of a sleep, which will bereally nice for everyone.
We'll be back getting up in thedaylight.
Right now it's dark.
When we get up We'll be back indaylight and getting those
early nights where it's going toget dark real quick.
So it happens every year, nomatter what.
Now Wyoming is talked aboutdoing away with daylight savings
(02:34):
time.
My daughter lives in Arizona.
Now they do not have daylightsavings time, so we're falling
back.
We'll actually be on the sametimes as they are down in that
area.
So daylight savings time andit's getting to that point.
Thanksgiving's right around thecorner.
Getting into Wyoming footballand Wyoming sports, the football
(02:56):
team just can't buy a break.
I guess when you're not havinga very good season, that's
usually the way it works.
That's why you are not having avery good season.
The breaks just don't happen.
You just can't make the breaks.
The Cowboys had a goodopportunity playing in the War
Memorial Stadium in Laramie onSaturday evening against Utah
(03:16):
State.
They ended up losing that gameit was a heartbreaker Lost by a
field goal.
At the end of the game UtahState got the ball and drove
down and got the field goal, butboth teams had one win.
On the season the Cowboys hadsome high hopes but it didn't
turn out well.
So the Cowboys are on the roadthis weekend as they head to
(03:36):
Albuquerque, new Mexico, take onthe New Mexico Lobos.
That'll be an interesting game.
New Mexico's had a lot of downyears, got our new coach.
We'll see how that game goes.
But with the Cowboys they keeppiling up injuries.
But of course you're going torun into that, especially
football this time of year.
You start getting, the playersare getting bumps and bruises
(03:59):
and it gets tougher.
So the Cowboys are pushing.
Then the following week is theBorder war down in Fort Collins
and it looks like CSU isstarting to come around.
In the conference they wereundefeated the last I saw and
they are kind of recovering fromthe first of the season.
They had a pretty toughschedule to start, but that
(04:20):
should be an interesting game.
So I don't know what's going tohappen with the Cowboys.
A lot of people are armchairquarterbacking about the
coaching.
There's been a lot of questionson the coaching.
A lot of things happened behindclosed doors.
There's a lot of peoplequestioning, but we'll see what
happens with those games.
On Saturday.
Also, that time of year we'regetting into the winter sports.
(04:42):
Our basketball team, the men'steam, has had an exhibition game
.
Sundance Wicks, who is fromGillette, wyoming, was an
assistant and then he left andwent to Green Bay and coached
and then when Coach Linder left,he took over as the head coach.
So he's going to bring a lot ofenergy.
(05:03):
But he's going to do the samething, bringing in a lot of
transfers.
That's just what collegebasketball is now.
That's just the name of thegame is transfers.
So we'll see how the men's teamdoes the women's team.
They are also in one of thefavorites for the Mountain West
title.
They have most of their playersback, so they are prepped, they
(05:25):
have the experience out there,so hopefully get a chance to go
to one of their games and alsothey should be on TV, so get a
chance to catch up with themAlso.
It's that time of year.
We all dread and we all knowit's going to come the election
next Tuesday.
Been so much money.
I made a trip up to Montanalast week.
(05:47):
I had a second trip.
I've made up to work on apipeline project and all you can
listen to is the stations inMontana and you hear election
stuff.
And John Tester if you're notfamiliar with him, he is the
senator, democratic senator fromMontana.
He has spent $70 million on hiscampaign.
So John Tester and theDemocratic Party has pumped that
(06:10):
much money.
It's so important to get thatSenate seat.
His opponent, sheehy, is at $20million and right now Sheehy is
in ahead of the polls.
But you never know with thevoting going on there.
But I see a lot of support forhim and I think a lot of that's
from the Trump train activitiesgoing on.
(06:31):
So elections are drawn down.
One bright spot on thestatewide.
We don't have anything of anyconsequence.
This year It'll be two yearsand we'll actually have the
state-wide governor's races andsecretary of state and so forth
and so on.
It draws a little bit moreinterest Locally, like, I think,
all across the country.
(06:53):
Our big ones are countycommissioner and school board.
We have a lot of people runningfor school board and I tell you
what I like to see those peopleout there running for school
board.
I really think the school boardhas two things to do with school
boards across the country isthat you need to declare your
party affiliation, and I thinkthey need to put term limits in.
(07:15):
I think you need to have thesepeople.
I appreciate anybody that'swilling to serve, but I think we
need to put a two-term limitfor these people and get new
people.
In that way we don't keep thesame stagnant group that gets in
there.
Bring new people in, bring somenew ideas, some changes.
Of course, the big one is thepresidential election coming up.
(07:39):
It's going to be a crazyTuesday Been a lot of voting
across the country.
I'm really not going to getinto a lot of the details.
You can follow that dependingon what your interest is, but
it's going to definitely be ahectic period ahead of us Coming
up after the election.
No matter what happens, I thinkthere's going to be some civil
(08:02):
unrest and some issues.
So we'll pray for our countryand again, I always like to tell
people carry that Bible withyou.
It's your guide for what youneed to do if you're going to
vote and what you care about inour country and finally here in
the state of Wyoming kind of asomber time with the loss of our
(08:22):
grizzly 399, the Queen of theTeton.
She was quite a legend, 28 yearsold.
She did have her cub this yearthat she had with her.
When she was hit.
She was hit by a car and I hadheard a person over in the
Jackson area that had followedher quite a bit talk about that.
(08:42):
Probably that's what was goingto happen.
A car would probably hit her.
That's how she would die andher cub Spirit was not found.
It seemed to be okay, but theyhave not been able to locate
Spirit, the last I've known.
People are thinking it'sprobably old enough now that it
can survive.
But 399 just was so important toa lot of people, a lot of
(09:08):
people in our state and peopleacross the world.
I saw the one lady said thatshe started following her during
the COVID years and justsomething to look forward to and
she just really enjoyed her andshe did blaze.
She was definitely anambassador for the state of
Wyoming.
She was an ambassador forgrizzly bears.
She will be missed.
(09:29):
They're having discussions onwhat to do.
I saw somebody say somethingabout having her stuffed and I
don't think that's a good idea.
I don't want to see a dusty 399sitting in a building someplace
.
Her spirit's out roaming thewilderness and she will
definitely be missed.
I mean, she did so much for somany people.
(09:51):
Kind of a sad moment for 399.
I think I saw the talking about610.
Was her one of her cubs?
And she be the, the newprincess, maybe now going to be
the new queen if she can survive, but a lot of people will miss
her.
She made an impact on our livesand it's amazing when you think
(10:16):
about what a bear could do, butit's really what she stand for.
I think that's what people gotbehind.
399, you'll be sorely missedbecause we know you're walking
across the wilderness now.
Rest easy.
$3.99.
Today in our history section,I'll look at a story from
(10:43):
wildhistoryorg Cheyenne MagicCity of the Plains, by Laurie
Van Pelt.
Union Pacific locomotives stillrumble through Cheyenne as they
first did 150 years ago.
But after the railroad arrivedin November of 1867, skeptics
questioned whether the townwould last.
1867, skeptics questionedwhether the town would last, as
(11:03):
so many other end-of-the-trackcommunities had died once the
craters and track layers movedon General Greenville.
Dodge had established the firstUnion Pacific Railroad town
site in the area at Crow Creek.
On July 4th of that year Threemarried couples and three men
arrived on July 9th.
Three married couples and threemen arrived on July 9th.
First referenced to as CrowCreek Crossing, the name of Iron
(11:26):
City was reportedly consideredfor the place, which the
railroad had first publicized asone of the most important sites
to be built between Omaha andCalifornia.
Dodge and some of those friendsare said to have renamed it
Cheyenne for the Great PlainsIndian tribe, are said to have
renamed it Cheyenne for theGreat Plains Indian tribe.
The town site in which thestill Dakota Territories then
was four miles square.
(11:47):
By July 22, the office hadopened to sell lots.
On July 25, 1867, the firstframe house was erected at the
corner of Ferguson and 16thStreet.
Construction of Fort DA Russell, a military post to protect the
railroad, began a couple weekslater.
The life of this place was tiedto the railroad.
(12:09):
The first tracks reachedCheyenne on November 13th of
1867.
A combination of constructionchallenges and the efforts of
enterprising businesses.
The life of this place was tiedto the railroad.
The first track reachedCheyenne on November 13th of
1867.
A combination of constructionchallenges and the shrewd
(12:32):
efforts of enterprisingbusinesses helped the town
endure and grow.
Wyoming historian TA Larsonnoted that Cheyenne spent six
months as an end-of-the-tracktown, a much longer period than
was allowed by any other Wyomingtown.
Cheyenne merchants, heexplained, supplied goods to
railroad camps on Sherman Hilland also to Colorado towns at
(12:55):
the Kansas Pacific Railroadbuilt towards Denver.
Larson also credited FortRussell as being a stabilizing
force in the Cheyenne economyGrowing rapidly.
Cheyenne soon gained anothername the Magic City of the
Plains.
The Cheyenne leader reported200 businesses in town by
November of 1867.
(13:15):
By July of 1868, just a yearafter the first settlers arrived
, the paper noted a populationof not less than 5,000.
Lake Marin defeated attorney WWCorlett to win the election as
the town's first mayor on July23, 1868.
Early-day revenue isaccumulated in the city coffers
(13:37):
from businesses, licenses andfines.
When Dakota Territory JudgeBartlett ruled in March of 1868
that only businesses named inthe charter were required to pay
license fees, city financessuffered Eventually a bond issue
and even the sale of desks andtables owned by the city would
become necessary.
Larson explains town citizensendured a disorderly behavior
(14:00):
such as shootings, thefts andstabbings.
Entertainment included dancehalls and saloons.
One barkeep named JamesMcDaniels was known as the
Barnum of the West, according toLarson, who stated McDaniels'
flamboyant attraction included afree museum, live theater and a
zoo stocked with porcupines,parrots, monkeys, apes, snakes
(14:20):
and bears.
Methodists, episcopals and RomanCatholics established
congregations in Cheyenne.
However, larson noted, churchfolks were not legion.
In Cheyenne's end-of-the-trackday In May of 1869, wyoming
Territorial Governor JohnCampbell named Cheyenne the
temporary capital and theterritorial lawmaker soon
(14:41):
approved.
Still during the 1871 and 1873legislative session, other towns
, including Laramie and Evanstonwere considered as possible
capital sites.
The cornerstone of the Wyomingcapital in Cheyenne was laid on
May 18, 1887.
The building was completed inthe spring of 1890, with
(15:02):
additional wings constructed in1915.
The Durbin brothers broughtshape to the area in 1870.
In July of 1870, hiram HighKelly shipped the first cattle
out of Wyoming loading stock andrail cars at the Cheyenne Depot
.
Francis E Warren, who wouldbecome the state's first
governor and one of the firsttwo US senators, was prominent
(15:26):
in the livestock business aswell.
Years later, warren reportedlyrecalled the rough-and-tumble
atmosphere of early Cheyenne,noting every man slept with one
to a half-dozen revolvers underhis pillow.
Another early stock raiser,alexander Swan, is credited with
bringing the first herbertcattle into Laramie in 1880.
(15:48):
The Cheyenne Club, patronizedprimarily by owners of the
territorials whose ranches wereestablished in 1880, but
following brief prices followedby the harsh winter of 1886-87,
brought a bust to the cattlebusiness.
Interest in the elegantclubhouse and its bar, billiards
and reading room diminished.
(16:08):
The first Cheyenne frontierdays occurred in the fall of
1897.
Warren Richardson, the event'sfirst chairman, credited the
idea which he said was born onthe train between Cheyenne and
Greeley, colorado, to Colonel EASlack, editor of the Cheyenne
Daily.
Sun-leader Slack envisioned aWestern show to rival Greeley's
(16:30):
Potato Day celebration.
The first Frontier Daycowpunchers, cowpony and wild
horse races, bucking horses,stagecoaches and Indians, as
well as other events.
Purses for the races rangedfrom $25 to $75.
The newspaper reported thatthousands came on the railroad
to attend the festivities.
(16:52):
Fort DA Russell retained itsmilitary significance.
Troops trained there forservice in the Spanish-American
War and for World War I.
In 1929, the fort was renamedin the honor of Francis E Warren
.
Transportation remainedimportant to the city, with
airplanes added to railroadtracks as technology advanced.
In 1930, cheyenne became amajor stopover for
(17:15):
transcontinental aviation.
Historian Rick Ewing notes thatby 1935, united Airlines had
scheduled a dozen arrivals anddepartures daily.
In 1942, when flying wasrestricted on the West Coast
because of World War II, unitedrelocated its pilot training
school to Cheyenne.
(17:35):
At the same time, the companyopened a factory that modified
military bombers, installing newguns and instruments on B-17s
and B-24s.
Workers modified more than5,000 aircraft.
Half of the 1,600 employeeswere women.
Uig estimates that the aviationpayroll in Cheyenne, which also
(17:56):
included the Civil AeronauticsAuthority, inland Airlines and
Plains Airways, totaled in themillions of dollars per year.
As aircraft became moremodernized, for example the use
of pressurized cabins, theairlines moved their hub to
Denver.
However, united created astewardess school in Cheyenne in
(18:17):
1947, with more than 6,000women eventually being trained.
In 1961, the school was movedto Chicago.
Also during World War II,frontier Refining built a
special fuel refinery inCheyenne for aviation fuel,
which was critical for aircraftof the era and Kennedy's
operation.
After the war ended, in 1947,fort Warren became a US Air
(18:40):
Force base.
In 1947, fort Warren became aUS Air Force base, now the
oldest continually active basein that military branch of
service.
The base has no airfields,however.
In the late 1950s it was chosenas the headquarters for the
Atlas ICBM missiles under theleadership of the Strategic Air
Command, according to EWIG, bythe summer of 1963, 200 missiles
(19:05):
were located in silos within100 miles of the base in Wyoming
, colorado and Nebraska.
In 1966, mayor Hubert Kinghamappointed James Byrd as the
first black chief of police inCheyenne, and Byrd became the
first black police chief in thestate.
He served for 16 years in underseveral different mayoral
(19:29):
administrations before retiredIn 1977, fe Warren Air Force
Base, one of the largest missilecommand bases in the nation,
was designated a NationalHistorical Landmark.
Ewing called the economic impactof the base and its early days
Fort Russell predecessorincalculable.
(19:50):
Early days Fort Russellpredecessor incalculable.
He reported that the US AirForce officials estimated the
annual economic contribution ofthe facility in 1952 as more
than $156 million, whichincluded military and civilian
salaries for personnel whocomprised about 13% of Laramie
County's workforce.
Cheyenne citizens elected theirfirst Wyoming mayor, marion Orr
(20:13):
, in 2017.
She used social mediaextensively during her campaign.
She plans to increase thenumber of police officers, which
also had previously decreased,and wanted to eliminate blight
in the city.
Population for the Magic City,according to the US Census
estimate, was 64,019 on July 1,2016.
(20:36):
State figures show thatCheyenne's prosperity continues
to be dominated by government,as has been since the city was
first established as theterritorial capital in 1869.
According to the WyomingDivision of Economic Analysis,
government jobs were the largestsector of the economy in 2000.
There were more than 15,709 ofthem, or 29.4% of total
(21:00):
employment, in the next twolargest sectors.
By comparison, service jobstotaled 12,370 and retail jobs
totaled 9,822.
And retail jobs totaled $9,822.
But the government jobs paidmuch better on average than jobs
in the next two largest sectors.
Total earnings that year were$868.1 million for government,
(21:24):
$449 million for services.
That slightly averages out morethan $55,000 per job in the
government compared to $36,000in the private sector.
By 2015, according to statefigures, the number of
government jobs had risen to17,503.
, but because employment wasgrowing faster in other sectors,
(21:46):
government jobs representedonly 26.2% of total employment.
Government earnings in 2015 inLaramie County were slightly
more than $1.4 billion, whichcomes to an average of about
$81,000 per job with benefits In2016,.
Cheyenne Frontier Days totalattendance was tallied at
(22:08):
259,193.
Attendance was tallied at259,193.
The Professional Rodeo CowboyAssociation Rodeo, considered to
be the world's largest outdoorrodeo, drew nearly 1,500
contestants competing for atotal purse of more than $1
million.
Other events include nightlyconcert by well-known
entertainers, free pancakebreakfasts, parades, indian
(22:30):
Village art show and air show bythe US Air Force Thunderbird.
The Wyoming capital arguably themost important historical
building in the state and adominant structure of the
Cheyenne skylines, is currentlybeing restored.
The model of thethree-and-a-half-story structure
, 300 feet long by 83 to 112foot wide, is expected to be
(22:53):
finished in 2018.
The height of the center andthe wings is about 60 feet.
The distance from the grade ofthe building to the top of the
spiral of the dome is about 146feet.
All offices in the capital havebeen moved to temporary
location for duration of thisproject.
Interesting story again abouthow we got to Cheyenne and even
(23:14):
though this is an older storyback to 2018, it is pretty much
in line with everything that wassaid here.
As far as the employmentnumbers, the number of state
offices and such in Cheyenne,and also with the railroad and
the military base in itslocation to Colorado and the
(23:35):
interstate, it is definitely anactive area for a lot of
businesses that are interestedin coming to Wyoming.
Thanks for joining us today andwe hope you enjoy our podcast.
As per the Code of the West, weride for the brand and we ride
for Wyoming.
(23:56):
We'll be right back.
(24:21):
One, two, three, four.
(24:51):
© 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 Wyoming weather and ourfirst snow Daylight saving time
this weekend.
We'll also talk about Wyomingfootball and some men's and
women's basketball, also theelections, and we'll have a
(00:36):
moment to reflect on 399, thequeen of the Tetons.
Thanks for joining us.
Hope you enjoy the show.
Taking a look at warmingweather here on the 30th day of
(01:04):
October, snow on the ground hada really good storm go through
all day yesterday.
Rain turned to a wet, slushysnow, good moisture and of
course it's going to be reallyeffective with these fires.
I think this pretty well couldput the end of the elk fire
across the hill from us andacross the state.
(01:27):
I think this is going to reallyhelp conditions.
Again, it always affectssomebody.
The farmers here in the BighornBasin are in the middle of
their beet harvest and so someof those areas might not have
got as much moisture.
It seemed like these stormshave kind of missed parts of the
central basin, but they stillhave a lot of beets to dig.
Wet ground kind of shuts thatdown, but not for long.
(01:50):
As dry as that ground is,they'll be back up and going.
I see the temperatures aregoing to come back up to really,
really warm, but I did seemaybe 50 by the weekend.
So I think we're in thatpattern here.
Coming into November we willhave these type of days, some
nice days, a storm rollingthrough and with daylight
(02:11):
savings time.
We're going to fall backSaturday night, get an extra
hour of a sleep, which will bereally nice for everyone.
We'll be back getting up in thedaylight.
Right now it's dark.
When we get up We'll be back indaylight and getting those
early nights where it's going toget dark real quick.
So it happens every year, nomatter what.
Now Wyoming is talked aboutdoing away with daylight savings
(02:34):
time.
My daughter lives in Arizona.
Now they do not have daylightsavings time, so we're falling
back.
We'll actually be on the sametimes as they are down in that
area.
So daylight savings time andit's getting to that point.
Thanksgiving's right around thecorner.
Getting into Wyoming footballand Wyoming sports, the football
(02:56):
team just can't buy a break.
I guess when you're not havinga very good season, that's
usually the way it works.
That's why you are not having avery good season.
The breaks just don't happen.
You just can't make the breaks.
The Cowboys had a goodopportunity playing in the War
Memorial Stadium in Laramie onSaturday evening against Utah
(03:16):
State.
They ended up losing that gameit was a heartbreaker Lost by a
field goal.
At the end of the game UtahState got the ball and drove
down and got the field goal, butboth teams had one win.
On the season the Cowboys hadsome high hopes but it didn't
turn out well.
So the Cowboys are on the roadthis weekend as they head to
(03:36):
Albuquerque, new Mexico, take onthe New Mexico Lobos.
That'll be an interesting game.
New Mexico's had a lot of downyears, got our new coach.
We'll see how that game goes.
But with the Cowboys they keeppiling up injuries.
But of course you're going torun into that, especially
football this time of year.
You start getting, the playersare getting bumps and bruises
(03:59):
and it gets tougher.
So the Cowboys are pushing.
Then the following week is theBorder war down in Fort Collins
and it looks like CSU isstarting to come around.
In the conference they wereundefeated the last I saw and
they are kind of recovering fromthe first of the season.
They had a pretty toughschedule to start, but that
(04:20):
should be an interesting game.
So I don't know what's going tohappen with the Cowboys.
A lot of people are armchairquarterbacking about the
coaching.
There's been a lot of questionson the coaching.
A lot of things happened behindclosed doors.
There's a lot of peoplequestioning, but we'll see what
happens with those games.
On Saturday.
Also, that time of year we'regetting into the winter sports.
(04:42):
Our basketball team, the men'steam, has had an exhibition game
.
Sundance Wicks, who is fromGillette, wyoming, was an
assistant and then he left andwent to Green Bay and coached
and then when Coach Linder left,he took over as the head coach.
So he's going to bring a lot ofenergy.
(05:03):
But he's going to do the samething, bringing in a lot of
transfers.
That's just what collegebasketball is now.
That's just the name of thegame is transfers.
So we'll see how the men's teamdoes the women's team.
They are also in one of thefavorites for the Mountain West
title.
They have most of their playersback, so they are prepped, they
(05:25):
have the experience out there,so hopefully get a chance to go
to one of their games and alsothey should be on TV, so get a
chance to catch up with themAlso.
It's that time of year.
We all dread and we all knowit's going to come the election
next Tuesday.
Been so much money.
I made a trip up to Montanalast week.
(05:47):
I had a second trip.
I've made up to work on apipeline project and all you can
listen to is the stations inMontana and you hear election
stuff.
And John Tester if you're notfamiliar with him, he is the
senator, democratic senator fromMontana.
He has spent $70 million on hiscampaign.
So John Tester and theDemocratic Party has pumped that
(06:10):
much money.
It's so important to get thatSenate seat.
His opponent, sheehy, is at $20million and right now Sheehy is
in ahead of the polls.
But you never know with thevoting going on there.
But I see a lot of support forhim and I think a lot of that's
from the Trump train activitiesgoing on.
(06:31):
So elections are drawn down.
One bright spot on thestatewide.
We don't have anything of anyconsequence.
This year It'll be two yearsand we'll actually have the
state-wide governor's races andsecretary of state and so forth
and so on.
It draws a little bit moreinterest Locally, like, I think,
all across the country.
(06:53):
Our big ones are countycommissioner and school board.
We have a lot of people runningfor school board and I tell you
what I like to see those peopleout there running for school
board.
I really think the school boardhas two things to do with school
boards across the country isthat you need to declare your
party affiliation, and I thinkthey need to put term limits in.
(07:15):
I think you need to have thesepeople.
I appreciate anybody that'swilling to serve, but I think we
need to put a two-term limitfor these people and get new
people.
In that way we don't keep thesame stagnant group that gets in
there.
Bring new people in, bring somenew ideas, some changes.
Of course, the big one is thepresidential election coming up.
(07:39):
It's going to be a crazyTuesday Been a lot of voting
across the country.
I'm really not going to getinto a lot of the details.
You can follow that dependingon what your interest is, but
it's going to definitely be ahectic period ahead of us Coming
up after the election.
No matter what happens, I thinkthere's going to be some civil
(08:02):
unrest and some issues.
So we'll pray for our countryand again, I always like to tell
people carry that Bible withyou.
It's your guide for what youneed to do if you're going to
vote and what you care about inour country and finally here in
the state of Wyoming kind of asomber time with the loss of our
(08:22):
grizzly 399, the Queen of theTeton.
She was quite a legend, 28 yearsold.
She did have her cub this yearthat she had with her.
When she was hit.
She was hit by a car and I hadheard a person over in the
Jackson area that had followedher quite a bit talk about that.
(08:42):
Probably that's what was goingto happen.
A car would probably hit her.
That's how she would die andher cub Spirit was not found.
It seemed to be okay, but theyhave not been able to locate
Spirit, the last I've known.
People are thinking it'sprobably old enough now that it
can survive.
But 399 just was so important toa lot of people, a lot of
(09:08):
people in our state and peopleacross the world.
I saw the one lady said thatshe started following her during
the COVID years and justsomething to look forward to and
she just really enjoyed her andshe did blaze.
She was definitely anambassador for the state of
Wyoming.
She was an ambassador forgrizzly bears.
She will be missed.
(09:29):
They're having discussions onwhat to do.
I saw somebody say somethingabout having her stuffed and I
don't think that's a good idea.
I don't want to see a dusty 399sitting in a building someplace
.
Her spirit's out roaming thewilderness and she will
definitely be missed.
I mean, she did so much for somany people.
(09:51):
Kind of a sad moment for 399.
I think I saw the talking about610.
Was her one of her cubs?
And she be the, the newprincess, maybe now going to be
the new queen if she can survive, but a lot of people will miss
her.
She made an impact on our livesand it's amazing when you think
(10:16):
about what a bear could do, butit's really what she stand for.
I think that's what people gotbehind.
399, you'll be sorely missedbecause we know you're walking
across the wilderness now.
Rest easy.
$3.99.
Today in our history section,I'll look at a story from
(10:43):
wildhistoryorg Cheyenne MagicCity of the Plains, by Laurie
Van Pelt.
Union Pacific locomotives stillrumble through Cheyenne as they
first did 150 years ago.
But after the railroad arrivedin November of 1867, skeptics
questioned whether the townwould last.
1867, skeptics questionedwhether the town would last, as
(11:03):
so many other end-of-the-trackcommunities had died once the
craters and track layers movedon General Greenville.
Dodge had established the firstUnion Pacific Railroad town
site in the area at Crow Creek.
On July 4th of that year Threemarried couples and three men
arrived on July 9th.
Three married couples and threemen arrived on July 9th.
First referenced to as CrowCreek Crossing, the name of Iron
(11:26):
City was reportedly consideredfor the place, which the
railroad had first publicized asone of the most important sites
to be built between Omaha andCalifornia.
Dodge and some of those friendsare said to have renamed it
Cheyenne for the Great PlainsIndian tribe, are said to have
renamed it Cheyenne for theGreat Plains Indian tribe.
The town site in which thestill Dakota Territories then
was four miles square.
(11:47):
By July 22, the office hadopened to sell lots.
On July 25, 1867, the firstframe house was erected at the
corner of Ferguson and 16thStreet.
Construction of Fort DA Russell, a military post to protect the
railroad, began a couple weekslater.
The life of this place was tiedto the railroad.
(12:09):
The first tracks reachedCheyenne on November 13th of
1867.
A combination of constructionchallenges and the efforts of
enterprising businesses.
The life of this place was tiedto the railroad.
The first track reachedCheyenne on November 13th of
1867.
A combination of constructionchallenges and the shrewd
(12:32):
efforts of enterprisingbusinesses helped the town
endure and grow.
Wyoming historian TA Larsonnoted that Cheyenne spent six
months as an end-of-the-tracktown, a much longer period than
was allowed by any other Wyomingtown.
Cheyenne merchants, heexplained, supplied goods to
railroad camps on Sherman Hilland also to Colorado towns at
(12:55):
the Kansas Pacific Railroadbuilt towards Denver.
Larson also credited FortRussell as being a stabilizing
force in the Cheyenne economyGrowing rapidly.
Cheyenne soon gained anothername the Magic City of the
Plains.
The Cheyenne leader reported200 businesses in town by
November of 1867.
(13:15):
By July of 1868, just a yearafter the first settlers arrived
, the paper noted a populationof not less than 5,000.
Lake Marin defeated attorney WWCorlett to win the election as
the town's first mayor on July23, 1868.
Early-day revenue isaccumulated in the city coffers
(13:37):
from businesses, licenses andfines.
When Dakota Territory JudgeBartlett ruled in March of 1868
that only businesses named inthe charter were required to pay
license fees, city financessuffered Eventually a bond issue
and even the sale of desks andtables owned by the city would
become necessary.
Larson explains town citizensendured a disorderly behavior
(14:00):
such as shootings, thefts andstabbings.
Entertainment included dancehalls and saloons.
One barkeep named JamesMcDaniels was known as the
Barnum of the West, according toLarson, who stated McDaniels'
flamboyant attraction included afree museum, live theater and a
zoo stocked with porcupines,parrots, monkeys, apes, snakes
(14:20):
and bears.
Methodists, episcopals and RomanCatholics established
congregations in Cheyenne.
However, larson noted, churchfolks were not legion.
In Cheyenne's end-of-the-trackday In May of 1869, wyoming
Territorial Governor JohnCampbell named Cheyenne the
temporary capital and theterritorial lawmaker soon
(14:41):
approved.
Still during the 1871 and 1873legislative session, other towns
, including Laramie and Evanstonwere considered as possible
capital sites.
The cornerstone of the Wyomingcapital in Cheyenne was laid on
May 18, 1887.
The building was completed inthe spring of 1890, with
(15:02):
additional wings constructed in1915.
The Durbin brothers broughtshape to the area in 1870.
In July of 1870, hiram HighKelly shipped the first cattle
out of Wyoming loading stock andrail cars at the Cheyenne Depot
.
Francis E Warren, who wouldbecome the state's first
governor and one of the firsttwo US senators, was prominent
(15:26):
in the livestock business aswell.
Years later, warren reportedlyrecalled the rough-and-tumble
atmosphere of early Cheyenne,noting every man slept with one
to a half-dozen revolvers underhis pillow.
Another early stock raiser,alexander Swan, is credited with
bringing the first herbertcattle into Laramie in 1880.
(15:48):
The Cheyenne Club, patronizedprimarily by owners of the
territorials whose ranches wereestablished in 1880, but
following brief prices followedby the harsh winter of 1886-87,
brought a bust to the cattlebusiness.
Interest in the elegantclubhouse and its bar, billiards
and reading room diminished.
(16:08):
The first Cheyenne frontierdays occurred in the fall of
1897.
Warren Richardson, the event'sfirst chairman, credited the
idea which he said was born onthe train between Cheyenne and
Greeley, colorado, to Colonel EASlack, editor of the Cheyenne
Daily.
Sun-leader Slack envisioned aWestern show to rival Greeley's
(16:30):
Potato Day celebration.
The first Frontier Daycowpunchers, cowpony and wild
horse races, bucking horses,stagecoaches and Indians, as
well as other events.
Purses for the races rangedfrom $25 to $75.
The newspaper reported thatthousands came on the railroad
to attend the festivities.
(16:52):
Fort DA Russell retained itsmilitary significance.
Troops trained there forservice in the Spanish-American
War and for World War I.
In 1929, the fort was renamedin the honor of Francis E Warren
.
Transportation remainedimportant to the city, with
airplanes added to railroadtracks as technology advanced.
In 1930, cheyenne became amajor stopover for
(17:15):
transcontinental aviation.
Historian Rick Ewing notes thatby 1935, united Airlines had
scheduled a dozen arrivals anddepartures daily.
In 1942, when flying wasrestricted on the West Coast
because of World War II, unitedrelocated its pilot training
school to Cheyenne.
(17:35):
At the same time, the companyopened a factory that modified
military bombers, installing newguns and instruments on B-17s
and B-24s.
Workers modified more than5,000 aircraft.
Half of the 1,600 employeeswere women.
Uig estimates that the aviationpayroll in Cheyenne, which also
(17:56):
included the Civil AeronauticsAuthority, inland Airlines and
Plains Airways, totaled in themillions of dollars per year.
As aircraft became moremodernized, for example the use
of pressurized cabins, theairlines moved their hub to
Denver.
However, united created astewardess school in Cheyenne in
(18:17):
1947, with more than 6,000women eventually being trained.
In 1961, the school was movedto Chicago.
Also during World War II,frontier Refining built a
special fuel refinery inCheyenne for aviation fuel,
which was critical for aircraftof the era and Kennedy's
operation.
After the war ended, in 1947,fort Warren became a US Air
(18:40):
Force base.
In 1947, fort Warren became aUS Air Force base, now the
oldest continually active basein that military branch of
service.
The base has no airfields,however.
In the late 1950s it was chosenas the headquarters for the
Atlas ICBM missiles under theleadership of the Strategic Air
Command, according to EWIG, bythe summer of 1963, 200 missiles
(19:05):
were located in silos within100 miles of the base in Wyoming
, colorado and Nebraska.
In 1966, mayor Hubert Kinghamappointed James Byrd as the
first black chief of police inCheyenne, and Byrd became the
first black police chief in thestate.
He served for 16 years in underseveral different mayoral
(19:29):
administrations before retiredIn 1977, fe Warren Air Force
Base, one of the largest missilecommand bases in the nation,
was designated a NationalHistorical Landmark.
Ewing called the economic impactof the base and its early days
Fort Russell predecessorincalculable.
(19:50):
Early days Fort Russellpredecessor incalculable.
He reported that the US AirForce officials estimated the
annual economic contribution ofthe facility in 1952 as more
than $156 million, whichincluded military and civilian
salaries for personnel whocomprised about 13% of Laramie
County's workforce.
Cheyenne citizens elected theirfirst Wyoming mayor, marion Orr
(20:13):
, in 2017.
She used social mediaextensively during her campaign.
She plans to increase thenumber of police officers, which
also had previously decreased,and wanted to eliminate blight
in the city.
Population for the Magic City,according to the US Census
estimate, was 64,019 on July 1,2016.
(20:36):
State figures show thatCheyenne's prosperity continues
to be dominated by government,as has been since the city was
first established as theterritorial capital in 1869.
According to the WyomingDivision of Economic Analysis,
government jobs were the largestsector of the economy in 2000.
There were more than 15,709 ofthem, or 29.4% of total
(21:00):
employment, in the next twolargest sectors.
By comparison, service jobstotaled 12,370 and retail jobs
totaled 9,822.
And retail jobs totaled $9,822.
But the government jobs paidmuch better on average than jobs
in the next two largest sectors.
Total earnings that year were$868.1 million for government,
(21:24):
$449 million for services.
That slightly averages out morethan $55,000 per job in the
government compared to $36,000in the private sector.
By 2015, according to statefigures, the number of
government jobs had risen to17,503.
, but because employment wasgrowing faster in other sectors,
(21:46):
government jobs representedonly 26.2% of total employment.
Government earnings in 2015 inLaramie County were slightly
more than $1.4 billion, whichcomes to an average of about
$81,000 per job with benefits In2016,.
Cheyenne Frontier Days totalattendance was tallied at
(22:08):
259,193.
Attendance was tallied at259,193.
The Professional Rodeo CowboyAssociation Rodeo, considered to
be the world's largest outdoorrodeo, drew nearly 1,500
contestants competing for atotal purse of more than $1
million.
Other events include nightlyconcert by well-known
entertainers, free pancakebreakfasts, parades, indian
(22:30):
Village art show and air show bythe US Air Force Thunderbird.
The Wyoming capital arguably themost important historical
building in the state and adominant structure of the
Cheyenne skylines, is currentlybeing restored.
The model of thethree-and-a-half-story structure
, 300 feet long by 83 to 112foot wide, is expected to be
(22:53):
finished in 2018.
The height of the center andthe wings is about 60 feet.
The distance from the grade ofthe building to the top of the
spiral of the dome is about 146feet.
All offices in the capital havebeen moved to temporary
location for duration of thisproject.
Interesting story again abouthow we got to Cheyenne and even
(23:14):
though this is an older storyback to 2018, it is pretty much
in line with everything that wassaid here.
As far as the employmentnumbers, the number of state
offices and such in Cheyenne,and also with the railroad and
the military base in itslocation to Colorado and the
(23:35):
interstate, it is definitely anactive area for a lot of
businesses that are interestedin coming to Wyoming.
Thanks for joining us today andwe hope you enjoy our podcast.
As per the Code of the West, weride for the brand and we ride
for Wyoming.
(23:56):
We'll be right back.
(24:21):
One, two, three, four.
(24:51):
© BF-WATCH TV 2021.
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