Let's Talk Wyoming
A podcast about Wyoming and everything we talk about including the weather, politics, energy & agriculture, sports & everything else effecting our state.
Let's Talk Wyoming
Let's Talk Wyoming - Weather Challenges, Bronze Boot, and a Murder Trial in Rock Springs
Snow, rain, and a spirit that can weather any storm—welcome to an episode filled with the vibrant essence of Wyoming life! What does it mean to truly "ride for the brand"? We'll explore it all, from the highs and lows of Wyoming's football scene—including Sheridan County's triumphs and the Wyoming Cowboys' rough patch—down to the heartstring tugging moments of sportsmanship that remind us what community really means. Get ready to stay informed about the unpredictable weather leading up to Thanksgiving, promising favorable travel conditions despite the wintry mix.
The tension heats up as we unravel the legal drama of the Cantrell trial, a gripping case full of courtroom theatrics and unexpected twists, culminating in a self-defense acquittal. Beyond the courtroom, we dissect the far-reaching effects this case has on local politics and community trust. Finally, let’s reflect on the timeless values encapsulated by Wyoming's Code of the West. Whether it’s loyalty, integrity, or just riding for your brand, discover how these principles are more than just mottos—they're the backbone of Wyoming's identity. Join us for a journey through stories that capture the soul of the Cowboy State.
Good morning and welcome to let's Talk Wyoming. I'm Mark Hamilton, your host, and today we'll be taking a look at our weather. We'll talk about Wyoming cowboy football and that bronze boot. We'll put a close to winter sports here in Wyoming with the state football championships and we'll talk about a dark time in Rock Springs Wyoming history a murder trial of 1970s. Thanks for joining us and enjoy the show.
Speaker 1:Taking a look at Wyoming weather here on the 18th day of November, getting close, a week and a half away more or less from Thanksgiving, we're getting into that holiday season. Our weather here in Wyoming has been pretty nice. We had a little bit of snow on Tuesday this previous week. A little wet snow, a little rain turned to snow, caused some issue with some of the roads here in northern Wyoming, had a little bit of moisture, just a little bit of a snow on Friday night. But right now, looking ahead for the week, we look like we're going to have some pretty favorable weather. Just taking a look at that long-range forecast, have family coming in for Thanksgiving and need to make a trip up to Billings, montana to pick up for the taxi service, so it's going to be interesting. I always worry about Thanksgiving time it seems like that's when the storms hit right after Thanksgiving and everybody has to face that travel issue. So we're praying for good weather. But right now everything looks good here in Wyoming. The days are getting shorter, a little bit of wind, but definitely we are in that time of year that we're used to. Just got to make the best of it, especially with the holidays coming forward. We're used to you just got to make the best of it, especially with the holidays coming forward.
Speaker 1:In Wyoming sports. A disappointing Friday night in Fort Collins for the Wyoming Cowboys as they drop a 24-10 game against CSU. Csu got a lead and the Cowboys just couldn't generate any offense. In that second half CSU really left Wyoming an opportunity. Csu scored early but they kind of I don't know they pulled off the gas or what happened. But the Cowboy defense got a little better in that first half it was pretty embarrassing the way CSU was running the ball. But second half Cowboys just couldn't do anything. And there in the fourth quarter they threw three passes in a row that hit the receivers in the hands and they dropped them. Three different receivers and if that is indicative of the Wyoming Cowboys seasons this year. So right now the Cowboys are at two and eight. Yes, two and eight, that sounds doesn't even sound real at 2-8. And it doesn't look too good going forward. But always got to be positive.
Speaker 1:They have a game on Saturday. This coming Saturday they take on the Boise State Bronx. Boise State is right now in first place in the Mountain West. So that's going to be a tough matchup for the Cowboys with everything that Boise State has. And then they go on the road to play Washington State and Pullman. And interesting, washington State of course doesn't have a conference. They used to be in the Pac-12, but Oregon State and Washington State were left standing. They're reorganizing a new Pac-12 conference, but they have been playing pretty good football. And then, of all teams, new Mexico went in and beat them on Saturday night in Pullman in a really shocking game. So Cowboys have got to know that they have a chance if they play a good air-free game and can move the ball. Interesting tidbit the head coach at Washington State used to coach at the University of Wyoming, so there'll be a little bit of familiarity with everyone. But that will be in two weeks.
Speaker 1:In our state here, high school football they finished up the football season on Friday and Saturday in Laramie at War Memorial. They've had the five championship games. Sheridan Bronx won again. I guess it's getting quite. I guess you might as well just pencil them in next year for the state title. They are at a 30-plus winning streak for 30-plus games. I think it's 37 or 38. I didn't get a chance to check, but let's just say they're a juggernaut. And they won that matchup against Cheyenne East convincingly and that's just the way they've always been.
Speaker 1:In the 3A, star Valley came in and played Cody a third year in a row and in the third year in a row Star Valley defeated Cody. Cody always has a great season until they have to play Star Valley. But again Star Valley won that game. Also in the 2A, bighorn was victorious. Now that's kind of strange.
Speaker 1:Bighorn Wyoming is in Sheridan County. It is just south of Sheridan, the community of Bighorn. So you have Sheridan County is the football capital of Wyoming. You have two state champions, pretty dominant teams, in Sheridan High School and Bighorn High School. I don't know what they have going there, but everybody needs to go by and figure out what it is, whether it's the water or what. But Sheridan County definitely is the title town, title county, I should say as they came out victorious. County, I should say as they came out victorious. Also, pine Bluffs beat Lingle-Fort Laramie in the championship game in the nine-man football and finally in six-man, little Snake River defeated Burlington and that was a rematch of last year's and Little Snake came out victorious. So congratulations to all the players. All the fans are making the trip it is always good to get people down there and congratulations to all the players that played, went out for football here in the state of Wyoming, got involved with activities. One side note on this I did notice and I didn't really realize this happened. Of course it hadn't been really advertised, but after the championship game the Star Valley and Cody teams met in the center of the field for prayer. So I guess Cody has been doing this all season long. So hats off to Cody High School and Star Valley High School for letting those young men express their self, their feelings on Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, their feelings on Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Today we want to kind of go a little different direction.
Speaker 1:A story from wildhistoryorg, and this is about an event that happened back in my early years. I remember this happening in Rock Springs, wyoming, ed Cantrell, Rock Springs and Boom Time Crime by Paul Crezza. It was Old West style, a clean up the town fast, draw lawmen acting to save his life. Or was it an in the trenches undercover cop about to blow the whistle on small town corruption? Undercover cop about to blow the whistle on small-town corruption? One could easily craft narratives using either of these two descriptions. Given the events that cascaded through late 1970 Sweetwater County, wyoming, either scenario would share a leading character a Rock Springs, a unique liberal-leaning, multicultural island in almost white conservative Wyoming.
Speaker 1:The drama went public when one .38 caliber pistol shot, fired July 15, 1978, outside the Silver Dollar Bar in Rock Springs, wyoming. Ed Cantrell, 51 at the time recently hired as the Rock Springs Public Safety Director, leaned over the front passenger seat of a police car with two detectives seated inside, took swift aim and shot his undercover agent between the eyes, michael Angel Rosa, who was then 29. Cantrell, an Indiana native and state policeman, moved to Wyoming in 1958. He joined the Wyoming Highway Patrol in 1960, stationed first in Rock Springs for seven years and then Cody for four years. Rosa, a Puerto Rican who had lived in New York City's Spanish Harlem, had worked in Wyoming as an undercover agent in Gillette, wyoming and then Lander Wyoming. When Cantrell hired him in late 1977 for a covert drug investigation, he contacted him and said he wanted to clean up Rock Springs. And Mike said this is a good man, he's straightforward, honest and a good guy and I really like him and I think he likes me too, said spouse Rebecca Rosa when interviewed four days after the
Speaker 1:shooting. Rock Springs, my immigrant grandparents' destination a century plus ago, began as a camp to mine coal for the Union Pacific Railroad. I lived there for decades, growing up and later writing about this radical, fossil-fuel-driven overnight transformation. Rock Springs was a busted town in the early 1950s when the Union Pacific Coal Company laid off miners en masse after the railroad switched to diesel. Isolated, the city floundered, littered with leftover mining remains and underground mine tunnels that damaged the houses built above them when the tunnels collapsed. Politically and culturally it was a Wyoming anomaly, derided by dominant conservative state Republicans as a weird phenomenon, democrat place run by unions, ragtag immigrants and rumors of murky
Speaker 1:mafiosis. Then, in 1971, two utilities, not sharing much information with residents, announced plans to build the $1 billion 2,000-megawatt coal-fired Jim Bridger power plant. Locals first welcomed the construction but became increasingly nervous as workers flooded the area, doubling the city's 11,000 population in a few years. At the same time, development of oil and gas and near the nearby town of Green River Trona, the primary source of soda ash, brought more people. These events jolted Rock Springs back to riches and the city assumed a new identity. Quintessential western Boomtown Impact was the umbrella description for the ensuing salsa changes. Job-seeking drifters camped outside the city and waves of incoming children filled the schools. Questionable planning and zoning brought a quick build, shoddy housing and unsightly trailer parks. Hunting and zoning brought a quick build, shoddy housing and unsightly trailer
Speaker 1:parks. Prostitutes appeared on K Street in Rock Springs' historical downtown bar and vice district where the largely male workforce went to drink. Once busted locals who hunkered down during the bad times scrambled to cash in on the new loose money. A cavalcade of boom-fueled crime unfolded Multiple murders, shootings, rapes and arson. The city assumed a feel of plain, bald-faced sleaze. But also among the newcomers were activists who formed a loose coalition with feminists and younger residents. Some founded the innovative Sweetwater County Sexual Assault and Rape Task Force, while others caused a stir with efforts to upgrade the county hospital, the Rock Springs Old Guard, the Bust-Era families who stayed in town and, until the 1970 boom, held public office for long periods labeled activist dissidents. Activist dissidents In the mid-1977, cbs News man Dan Rather arrived in the bone-dry country they call Sweetwater County, pointing to his special night lens at K Street probing police payoffs and drug
Speaker 1:deliveries. The network aired his 60-minute portrait of Our Town. A Washington Post reporter also came, noting the dingy hub of vice in Rock Springs where the elegant hookers in large, highly polished Cadillacs bearing out-of-state license plates cruised the cold, windy streets as their pimps shot pool in shabby bars with cowboys and construction men. Rather concluded it was all a blend of permissiveness and criminality and beyond journalism to establish innocence and guilt. He also produced a second episode, high Noon in Cheyenne on state politics, primarily on Governor Ed Hershler. Governor Ed, as people called him, was a folksy Democrat and a camera-whiming lawyer elected by a coalition of minority Democrats, ranchers and moderate Republicans. To the dismay of conservatives. The Republican-dominated legislature sparred with Herschler but he eventually was re-elected twice. Rather noted Herschler's connection to Rock Springs through state Democratic chairman and well-known local businessman, don El Salmi. The El Salmi family were longtime residents and Don and his three brothers operated a lucrative boom enterprise. Bill sold mobile homes and then cars and trucks, john a lawyer, also on a zoning board that granted variances or exceptions to zoning rules, including one for his brother, paul, a motel owner who developed worker apartments in a commercialized-only zone. All were linked to longtime mayor Paul Wadata Administration, and Rathers' report was figured as looking the other
Speaker 1:way. As crime flourished After Rathers left town, events accelerated. A state judge impaneled a statewide grand jury in November of 1977. One of its prime investigative targets was Rock Springs. Hershler's Attorney General Frank Mendocino was accused of covering up probes among those in Rock Springs. In early 1978, changes were in the air in Sweetwater County when activist newcomers and local reformers like legislator and lawyer Fred Broussard of Green River organized to upend old politics. Two new radio stations, kugr and KRKK, offered a robust local news along with the Casper Star Tribune, were as they paid by the column inch correspondent. I learned much quickly. Local officials got intensive public scrutiny and statewide regional exposure. Rock Springs officials were understandably feeling the heat as the grand jury investigators poked around. Cantrell meanwhile was working as Sweetwater County Sheriff James Stark's undershirt sheriff where Wadataw hired him as the Rock Springs Public Safety Director and said he gave Cantrell full reign to tackle crime. In an interview 12 hours before the Silver Dollar Bar confrontation, cantrell told me he inherited a good police department and he'd hired a detective assigned to prostitution and narcotics almost full-time and I don't see any relief for that situation in the immediate
Speaker 1:future. In the early morning of July 15th Cantrell fired the shots that changed his life and ended Rose's. Two days later Cantrell was charged with first-degree murder. Sweetwater County Attorney Robert Bass' complaint included an affidavit from State Division of Criminal Investigation Director Christopher Crofts, called in by Sheriff Starks to probe the shooting. Rosa had just been subpoenaed to appear before the state grand jury the following Monday, july 17, 1978, croft notes One of the detectives in the car during the shooting, james Callis, said he had called Cantrell on July 14 to tell him about the subpoena and also about expense reports. Callis had asked Rosa to correct. Callis thought these were trivial errors but cited paranoia in Rock Springs because the grand jury earlier had indicted the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy Director for Altering Travel Vouchers. Callis later reported that when he met with Cantrell the night before the shooting Cantrell became quite angry and at one point said words to the effect of maybe we ought to take care of this son of a bitch out and kill him. Cross wrote In the early morning hours of July 15th, callis and another detective met Bitter and accompanied Cantrell to the Silver Dollar
Speaker 1:bar. Cantrell said he wanted to talk with Rosa. Callis said both detectives sitting in their squad car watched Rosa enter the car in a slurly or angry manner and saying what do you want? You? Followed by a gunshot or angry manner and saying what do you want? You? Followed by a gunshot. They both looked to see Cantrell pointing a revolver towards Rosa's genrily over the center of the back of the front seat. The avidator indicated and Rosa was sitting with his head slumped forward. Callous said something like Good God, ed, why did you do that? Cantrell replied. The two detectives said it was a cold stare. Crofts said Cantrell told another detective at the scene that he and Rosa reached for a gun. Crofts said Cantrell told another detective at the scene that he thought Rosa reached for a gun and words to the effect I could see it in his eyes he was going to get me. It was him or
Speaker 1:me. Cantrell was taken into a side door for a Justice Court bond hearing in downtown Rock Springs amid tight security, including some armed officers on rooftop across the street. The hearing was closed, prompting a First Amendment lawsuit by KTWOTV reporter Pete Williams lawsuit by KTWO-TV reporter Pete Williams. Bond was set at $250,000. Cantrell was sent for psychiatric evaluation at the state hospital in Evanston, wyoming, deemed sane, with Bond posted by friends. Cantrell remained free until his November 13th preliminary
Speaker 1:hearing. But a new player in the drama arrived, well-known and flamboyant Jackson Wyoming lawyer, jerry Spence, who agreed to defend Cantrell. Spence at the time was early in his career, just beginning to build his later fame with such tactics as Western dress and the style of questioning at hearings. On the first day, the hearing was moved to Rock Springs City Hall to accommodate spectators. Day, the hearing was moved to Rock Springs City Hall to accommodate spectators. There's not a man, woman or child in Wyoming who doesn't believe Cantrell is guilty, spence said, adding that the press has been victimized. Cantrell would plead self-defense and the case would rest on three pitiful Ps paranoia, panic and politics Spence said. After one day the hearing was postponed until after the grand jury
Speaker 1:finished. The hearing finally resumed months later, january 22, 1979, and ran until February 8. At unprecedented length, most hearings were brief. It gave Spence a time to work on the media with a new narrative painting Rosa as an unsavory character. When the hearing ended, justice of the Peace. Nana James sent the case to District Court for trial. Months later, district Court Judge Kenneth Hamm scheduled trial for November 13, 1979, 16 months after the crime, and granted a defense motion to change the venue to Pinedale, 100 miles north, a town of about 1,000 people not unfamiliar with guns. Prosecutors Robert Pickett and Jack Smith dutifully presented the case outline and bass
Speaker 1:complaint. During the two-week trial, spence painted a picture of Rosa as a cop gone sour who may have been using drugs himself and was also having an affair At one point in the trial. Star Tribune reporter Joan Barron was assigned to cover it. Spence had subpoenaed me, which made me a witness, then calling Cantrell to testify, spence defined the proceedings with a single dramatic moment. He asked Cantrell to demonstrate his quick draw with his evidence-impounded revolver. So fast Spence implied that Rosa intended to shoot was taken out first. Judge Hamm, who also had connections to the old guard Webb in Rock Springs, gave the jury only one choice to make find Cantrell guilty of first-degree murder or accept his self-defense argument. After less than three hours the verdict came Not guilty. The crowd of courtroom erupted in
Speaker 1:applause. The Star Tribune letter writers expressed mostly outrage at the verdict, as did some Rock Springs residents I interviewed I knew he would get off, said one Spence is a lot sharper than the people who prosecuted it. Another said but Green River Star editor and publisher Carl Betts told editors that it was over the time to move on. We must conclude that 12 honest folks ruled the man was innocent. Cantrell correctly said that no law enforcement agency would want him, so he rode off the range, hired by the Wyoming Cattlemen Association to curb rustling. His new career attracted more national attention Life magazine with a photo spread in 1983, and then Harper's Magazine writer James Conway portrayed him in 1987, the last hired gun. But for all the publicity, including later as a consultant for the television miniseries Lonesome Dove, cantrell told interviewers he was deep in debt and alone In Sweetwater
Speaker 1:County. Meanwhile reformers had triumphed in the November 1978 election. Broussard soundly defeated 12-year state senator Robert Johnson, hamm's brother-in-law and also Wadataw's city attorney. Wadataw filed a $63 million libel suit against Rather and CBS, but that was tossed along with his equal-time FCC request. Rebecca Rose's $7 million lawsuit against Cantrell and Roxby's officials met a similar fate. Lawsuit against Cantrell and Rock Springs officials met a similar fate. The grand jury meanwhile issued this report in November of 1978 and indicted 25 persons, most from Rock Springs and Casper, on drug delivery charges and only two lower-level state officials. No Rock Springs or Sweetwater County officials were charged and there was no proof of payoffs, but the jury criticized them for lax enforcement of drug and prostitution
Speaker 1:laws. The Osami family continues to vary business enterprises, including the Outlaw Inn, a name that harked back to Butch Cassidy days in Rock Springs. One of the grandsons, jay, recalled the city in a 2016 memoir Heavy. Interviewed by the Wyoming Public Media, he said the narrative that the family would tell was always the 60-minute episode and all the stuff is just a complete bull. I think the truth is maybe not quite in the middle, but definitely more tinges of shadiness with my grandpa than my family told me about. Cantrell died on June 11th of 2004. The debate over what came down on July 15th of 1978 still continues. The old west adage that dead man tells no tales means we'll never hear Rose's version of what happened. But in a ling-a lingarangle at trial, cantrell won that fight. I remember this story because of the news coverage, especially when 60 Minutes and Dan Rether was involved, and there was always a lot of questions and a lot of gossip through the area. Again, I was a college student at the University of Wyoming at the time, and Rock Springs definitely didn't have a great image and I think it finally is probably away from that, but it took a long time for the town to recover. But it definitely was a different time in our state and it was part of our Wyoming state
Speaker 1:history. Thanks for joining us today and we hope you enjoy our podcast. As per the Code of the West, we ride for the brand and we ride for Wyoming. We'll be right back. 3, 2, 1. 3, 2, 1. Go, go, go, go. © BF-WATCH TV 2021.
