Pioneers of Outlaw Country: Wyoming History
Welcome to Pioneers of Outlaw Country: Wyoming History where we dive deep into the rugged, untamed spirit of Wyoming's rich history. I’m your host, Jackie Dorothy. So pleased to meet you! I am a historian, journalist and memoir coach and you can find me at legendrockmedia.com. I’m the seventh generation of my family living in Wyoming and currently live near Thermopolis on the Wind River Reservation. My passion is to make history come alive! Many of these stories have been forgotten and the pioneers are relatively unknown. Join us for a journey back into time that is fun for the entire family and students of any age! This podcast series has been supported by our partners; the Hot Springs County Pioneer Association, the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, the Wyoming Humanities, and the Wyoming Office of Transportation.
Episodes
The Legend of the Ghost in Red Flannel
Thank you for joining me, Jackie Dorothy, for another adventure in Wyoming’s past on Pioneers of Outlaw Country. Today, we take a peek at another mysterious guide that saved the life of a lost hunter.
A young Wyoming hunter had became lost on Trapper Creek in the Bighorn Mountains in 1951. Just when things took a turn for the worse, a figure in a red flannel shirt appeared out of ...
In 1870, 52 year old Truman Everts, an unskilled Easterner, was lost in Yellowstone with only two knives and a pair of opera glasses. He was slowly starving to death as winter set in, his only food the roots of thistles.
Then ghostly guides appeared to show him the way home.
Join us on the misadventure of Truman Everts, a tax accessor who is remembered as an unlikely survivor. He leaves us Mount Everts and the Everts...
The Fountain Hotel was shrouded in mystery. It was the fanciest resort in Yellowstone, but not all their guests checked out.
Newspapers across the nation carried the story about the millionaire’s missing heir. Park security investigated a mysterious bell that rang for service in an empty room. A party of motorists who just vanished perplexed people for decades.
Park rangers and guests alike were pleased when the luxu...
High in the Absaroka Mountains lies the ghost town of Kirwin — a place built on promise, gold, and fear.
Once the most modern mining town in Wyoming, Kirwin boasted electricity, telephones, and two-story homes in the wilderness. But after a deadly avalanche struck in 1907, the people fled… leaving everything behind — furniture, tools, even their dreams.
Or did they?
Over a century later, visitors still claim to hear voic...
High in the Rattlesnake Range above Casper, Wyoming, a legend rides the wind. He is a ghostly white stallion known as The White Devil.
In the 1800s, this spectral horse was said to protect his herds of wild mustangs from any cowboy who dared to rope them. Fierce, untamed, and impossible to catch, he became more than a horse. The White Devil was a warning.
Even today, locals whisper that the White Devil still roams thos...
In 1866, danger haunted every mile of the Bozeman Trail. Red Cloud and his Sioux warriors were at war, defending their homeland against broken treaties and encroaching forts.
Soldiers rode under constant threat, their lives hanging by a thread in the lonely stretches between outposts.
Into this peril walked Private Dave Duck, carrying an urgent dispatch through hostile country. Yet, when he reached Fort C. F. Smith, th...
They say justice never rests—but neither does Tom Horn.
After the infamous gunslinger swung from the gallows inside the Laramie County Jail on November 20, 1903, the prisoners left behind began to hear things: the creak of the trapdoor, the sinister sound of running water from the “suicide gallows,” and a calm, steady voice saying, “Are you ready?”
Even after his death, prisoners swore Horn was still there with them...
Three times, early pioneers of Wyoming have been said to have seen an ancient ship of death. This fully crewed ship came like the mist, sailing down the Platte River near the present day city of Casper.
This ship brought with it a horrifying vision to all who saw the spectral vision.
This ghost story has connections to the Bermuda Triangle and an infamous author, Vincent Gaddis. The more I learned of him, the more horr...
The Twilight Zone In Chugwater, Wyoming
Caught in a blizzard, three people sought shelter and found much more than they bargained for as they entered the twilight zone in Chugwater, Wyoming.
Welcome to Season 4 of the Pioneers of Outlaw Country. I am your host Jackie Dorothy and we are about to embark on a spooky journey across Wyoming. This is the most terrifying season yet as we explore the haunted history of the Equa...
Yellowstone’s Battle Against the Automobile
Getting to Yellowstone National Park in the early days of the automobile was no simple task. Adventurous drivers believed it was possible, but first, two big hurdles stood in their way: building safe roads through the rugged Cowboy State and convincing the Park Service to even allow cars past the gates.
One determined driver crashed the gate going 25 mph and the mounted soldie...
Dangerous Work: Building the Yellowstone Highway
Blasting a road through Wyoming’s Wind River Canyon in the 1920s was like chiseling a trail into the jaws of a granite beast—complete with dynamite, sheer cliffs, and the constant threat of falling into a roaring river. It took guts, grit, and more than a few prayers to carve tunnels and hang a highway from canyon walls that soared thousands of feet above the brave soul...
The Good Roads Clubs in Wyoming were like the cheerleaders of the early highway system—rallying townsfolk, wrangling funds, and literally paving the way to Yellowstone National Park, turning bumpy wagon trails into smooth rides for motorists in their new fancy cars.
As autos became all the rage even in rural Wyoming, so did the increased need for good highways.
Across the Cowboy State, Good Roads Clubs were formed and...
Blasting Through The Wind River Canyon
Blazing a railroad through Wind River Canyon in the early 1900s was essentially hand-painting a snake’s skeleton—rugged crews, dynamite, burros, and sheer drops that would make a circus tightrope look tame. Those hardworking souls carved tunnels out of granite with picks, shovels, and sweat, all while exotic voices from Swedish, Italian, and Japanese laborers echoed between canyon...
A gold rush in the Copper Mountains of Wyoming brought 2,000 miners into the area in 1906. By 1909, nearly everyone was gone. For just a brief moment in time, hopes of a rich strike even excited Wyoming Governor Brooks who boasted of the future success of Birdseye.
But when the lead ran dry, the dreams turned to dust, and the camp faded into legend.
Join us as we explore the untold stories of the souls who worked and...
The Bighorn River is a dangerous river in the Bighorn Basin and has claimed numerous lives in its depths.
Lives were lost when high water would sweep away entire families. The ferries made crossing the dangerous Bighorn River safer - but even these ferries were perilous and dangerous.
These stories and more are featured in this special podcast as part of the tales along the Yellowstone Highway explaining the dangers ...
Welcome to a special edition of Pioneers of Outlaw Country. Today you are in for a treat. Grab your popcorn as we dive into an old-time radio show.
As I was researching the stage routes of Wyoming, my internet searches kept directing me to the movie, Stagecoach. I admit I was a bit annoyed but then my curiosity got the best of me. I finally listened to the radio dramatization of the movie - when I should have been re...
Wrecks, highway robbery and rockslides awaited the stage coaches that dared venture over Birds Eye Pass. This dangerous stage line route was full of peril but despite the risks, the stage coach ran every day, except Sunday.
Join us for a ride on this perilous route over the Wind River Canyon in Central Wyoming. There was no train or highway - only the rugged trail through Copper Mountain.
This special edition of Pione...
When the mountain man brought the first mischievous mule into Wyoming he was unaware of the importance this stubborn, irritating critter would play in building the state.
As we continue celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Yellowstone Highway through the Wind River Canyon, it would be a shame to overlook one of the hardest workers that helped bring in the modern age.
In between kicking up its he...
16 skeletons, over an 80 year time span, were found along the banks of the Badwater Creek.
Who were they and who murdered these people while Wyoming was still only a territory?
Their stories were buried in old newspapers and were mysteries dating back to 1872.
Three were found in a cave with bullet holes, twelve were soldiers found in an Aspen grove and the last was found in a burnt grave with five arrow heads.
These ...
Journey with us through the rich and adventurous history of the Yellowstone Highway through the Wind River Canyon, now a scenic by-way. From its rugged landscapes to the tales etched into its cliffs, this byway has seen it all.
We kick off with the Gold Rush era, exploring how the promise of fortune drew eager prospectors into the canyon, igniting a frenzy that transformed the region. As gold seekers braved the treache...
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