Send us a Text Message.When we think of the early visitors of Wyoming, we think of the cowboys, homesteaders, miners and others coming to the West to make their fortune. There was another group of young men who came west on the trains and stagecoaches. These were young, rich men looking for an adventure and relaxation. They were not in Wyoming to find their fortune but here to vacation.Among these young tourists was a Harvard student of law, Owen Wister. His journals kept a record of his firs...
Feb 22
10 min
Send us a Text Message.The faded pencil script spelled out rough poems, descriptions of sunsets and hangings, saloon scenes, cowboy tall tales, the wide-open prairie and the sharp retort of the gun. From Owen Wister’s pen, the cowboy myth was born and became a true relic of Wyoming’s rich past. The Pioneers of Outlaw Country. Cowboys, Lawmen and Outlaws… to the businessmen and women who all helped shape Wyoming. Here are their stories. Owen Wister, His For...
Feb 15
8 min
Send us a Text Message.The most famous cowboy prank in Wyoming... may never have happened. Or did it? In his novel, The Virginian, Owen Wister tells of a baby swapping prank that happened at a rural dance. It was common practice in those days to pile the babies under chairs and tables to sleep while the parents danced the night away. According to Wister, two cowboys took advantage of this situation to pull a legendary stunt! After his novel was published, residents of Thermopolis ...
Feb 8
23 min
Send us a Text Message.When Owen Wister brought his family to Wyoming in 1912, they brought along a special friend: Peeshee, the waltzing mouse. The inclusion of this tiny tourist in their family gives us insight into the Wister family dynamics and their love of nature in all forms.The Waltzing Mouse, once as common as goldfish as pets for children, was a puzzle to the scientists who studied them. These tiny creatures would whirl in circles rather than walk in straight lines and were more doc...
Feb 2
11 min
Send us a Text Message."Young man, go west!"Among the cowboys and frontiersmen, miners and homesteaders were a group of young adventurers - the rich young tenderfoot. These tourists were not seeking their fortunes but were tourists, looking to get away from the confines of civilization even briefly. One of these young men took his journals and turned them into fiction, becoming one of the best-selling authors in America. Even today, his novel, The Virginian, is one of the top 50 fictions...
Jan 26
22 min
Send us a Text Message.In 1902, the most popular book in America was The Virginian by Owen Wister. This book changed America's perspective on the cowboy and turned the once maligned cowhand into a romantic hero.Told at times through the eyes of the Tenderfoot, this is a story of a courageous but mysterious cowboy known only as “the Virginian”. He works as foreman of a cattle ranch in the Wyoming territory during the1880s and is admired by his friends and enemies alike. The gunplay ...
Jan 18
44 min
Send us a Text Message.In 1903, Tom O'Day was villainized in the newspapers as a notorious horse thief but his friends and acquaintances defended him as a cheerful Irishman who may embellish a brand once in awhile. That February he was unarmed when, suddenly, he was in the fight of his life. Join us on this exciting escapade of one of Wyoming's most beloved outlaws, Tom O'Day! Thank you for listening to Hot Springs County Pioneers. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a sing...
Jan 12
11 min
Send us a Text Message.Happy New Year! What better way to celebrate than to travel back in time to 1884 in the Wyoming Territory. Warning... Sprinkled in with the 1884 New Years predictions are superstitions and even an old-fashioned romance. We are celebrating the 1884 New Year just as residents did that same year and reading through the Cheyenne Daily Sun after staying up to bring in the New Year! 1883 had been a time of prosperity for many in Wyoming and the fledging city of Cheyenne...
Jan 4
20 min
Send us a Text Message.They were daring adventurers, forgers of a new life, homesteaders …. and forgotten to history. These vanished people were true pioneers of Hot Springs County, Wyoming. The Pioneers of Outlaw Country. Cowboys, Lawmen and Outlaws… to the businessmen and women who all helped shape Thermopolis and Hot Springs County, Wyoming. Here are their stories. The Lost Owl Creek Colony Many, many years ago, strangers ca...
Apr 18, 2023
17 min
Send us a Text Message.He was the founder of Thermopolis, well-respected businessman and cattleman, a dashing bachelor, expert horseman and a murderer. This cattleman and businessman was a true pioneer of Hot Springs County, Wyoming. The Pioneers of Outlaw Country. Cowboys, Lawmen and Outlaws… to the businessmen and women who all helped shape Thermopolis and Hot Springs County, Wyoming. Here are their stories. Ben Hanson, The Murder of Tom Bird ...
Apr 5, 2023
25 min
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