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 rainy fall weather here at the end of October. We'll be taking a look at some booms and bangs here in Thermopolis, Wyoming. And we'll also talk about the border war and camping on the Lincoln Highway just for everybody who start to think about next spring. Thanks for joining us, and we hope you enjoyed the show. Right now in Hot Springs County, we have rain. It started about lunchtime and has been coming down the all afternoon. Looks like it could turn to a little bit of snow maybe tonight if the rain keeps up with some cooler temperatures. Overall, our weather's been pretty good since our storms of a couple weeks ago. And it looks like this is gonna last for a day or two, and then we'll look at nicer weather coming up later in the week. So of course it's gonna be in the fifties, but the weather looks favorable. No snow. The trees still have green leaves out there. Everything's green. There's just a little bit of change to the leaves around here, but not uh extreme yet. Haven't had a lot of leaves come off. So we are still enjoying our fall. Uh pretty quick we're gonna be in Thanksgiving is less than a month away. Better get that turkey bought if you can afford the turkey with the cost of everything. But again, here in Hot Springs County, it looks like the weather's gonna stay this way. But this is standard fall weather and we'll take every bit of it we can get. In other news, here in Hot Springs County, the big news we were talking about high school football, our football team, the Hot Springs County or Thermopolis Bobcats, won their final regular season game of the year here at Leroy Hayes Field, took on Pinedale, the Pinedale Wranglers. And it brought up, oh I'll tell you what, what a night and a lot of controversy it brought up. Nothing to do with the game. The Bobcats won the game twenty-one to twelve. But the local fire department, who also does a fireworks show, they are definitely experts at fireworks. They were set up when I got to the game, they were set up in the bus parking lot. They had some of their launchers there, and I really didn't know what was gonna take place. And so Thermopus scored their first touchdown. Suddenly you heard a boom and then goboom, and it was really loud. I mean it it was like something blew up below the press box. It wasn't an M eighty, it was an M eighty on steroids. And boy, it vibrated everything in the area. And the Bobcats did score two more touchdowns in the first half, and so we got two more times of getting the kabooms. So at halftime on Facebook it was totally lit up. People were going, What was that? People were wondering what happened, and they could hear it everywhere. Everywhere. If you've been to Thermopolis, we're down in a little bit kind of a depression with the hills around us and such. So that noise I could see can stay here. And people weren't very happy. Of course, it was for the touchdowns for the team when they scored, and and on top of that, they didn't score in the second half. They had twenty-one points at halftime. And after the game was over, the fire department had more launches to take care of. They probably had some extra ones that they were going to use anyway. So we had quite a few more blasts to celebrate the victory. The Bobcats are headed to the first round of the playoffs as a home host as a taking on the Burns Bronx, and it's been a while since the Bobcats have been in the playoffs. People were sure upset. Well, lo and behold, come to find out that uh school had approached the city council about this um to get permission to set the fireworks off for the game. Of course they went ahead and allowed it. Well, when the game was over, the chief of police put on Facebook that just to let people know the city council has approved this. And people were just mortified. There were some, well, you know, we're doing this to celebrate the kids, but there's a lot of people. We have a lot of elderly people here. You have people with t PTSP and those type of loud explosions can cause a lot of issues. After the fact, the police making this announcement, letting everyone know was a little bit what I call too late to do much good. Instead of telling people ahead of time, warning people about it, maybe even having an announcement at the football game that there may be some loud explosions. Uh be prepared for all you people with small kids. But it was going on the rest of the weekend people were up in arms over the whole thing. So the Bobcats did win, but boy, I'll tell you what, they didn't school district, city council, police department didn't carry a lot of real good PR work with the rest of the community. This with a lack of coming out and letting people know. So that was our excitement. And now the Bobcats host Burns Bronx. That's a long trip from Burns, Wyoming. If you people know that's on I-80 east of Cheyenne, about thirty-some miles. So they have a long trip. The Bobcast will be in action at six o'clock on Halloween of all dates on the 31st of October, that playoff game. So along with that, they're gonna have some activities with Halloween taking place. But it was rather interesting. We were definitely the talkat town, that football team, and boy, those uh fireworks going off were just quite the thing. Also, pretty exciting here in the state of Wyoming, they had the border war. Wyoming Cowboys took on the CSU Rams. CSU's season hasn't been going very well. I'd say the Cowboys haven't been lighting it up either, but the CSU team they fired their head coach last week before the game. So they came in to Laramie and the Cowboys had made a change with their offensive coordinator. So they're hoping for better things, and they came out and won 28 to nothing. The bronze boot is back in Laramie, and it definitely still sucks to be a CSU Ram for sure. A lot of people are making comments. I did see one person make a comment, which is probably true, because when the coach got fired, their starting quarterback quit the team and was going to go to the transfer portal and said that there was a team that's already defeated themselves. They've just pretty much are gonna just send it in for the rest of the season, it looks like. But it was a big win for the Cowboys. They had a full house in Laramie at War Memorial. Beautiful night. It was a night game. Most of the time, when you're thinking of a game this late in October, you might have anything from snow to 20 below. You don't know what's going to happen. Now they have one final home game, if I'm 100% correct. They're gonna take an honor Josh Allen later in November as they take on Fresno State. That game is sold out. They'll be retiring Josh's number. That's an open date that Josh could get to Laramie to be there for the presentation, so that's why a lot of people are going to it. So we'll keep our fingers crossed that that just isn't a total white out and some type of a mess that you can get in Laramie. The other thing that happens in the month of November, of course, we start our state playoffs, and they'll have the first two rounds will be at the home site of the higher seed team, and then the in three weeks will be the state championship game will be at War Memorial, and the teams will all play down their all classifications. So that's always a a great event for all the kids to get down and get a play in the war. And so I did go one year. I I think I've said it before on the pod. This one back in 2010 the Bobcats got to the state championship game. They were taking on Glen Rock. And we got to Laramie on that Friday when we left that morning from Casper. We had heard that the roads were gonna get closed, and we got into Laramie. The roads were closing behind us. And that game was later that afternoon, and that War Memorial Stadium was just full of snow. It just came down. And they had to take and get uh the tractors out to please take and so you could see the yard markers. And you couldn't there was no stance going up in the bleachers because it was just full of snow. There was really no place to sit. So we stood down in the north end zone and watched the game, which the Bobcats ended up winning. So that was quite an event. Quite an event. And so that's what we're looking at, and a lot of great fun and a lot of good opportunities, a lot of great things for those young men that are taking part in this uh state playoffs. Also, volleyball's taking place. Last weekend they had state championship for cross country. So we're just really winding down. Volleyball starts with their regional tournaments this weekend, and then next weekend all classifications will head to Casper for the state tournament. And that is always an interesting site where they use all four courts. Yeah, well, I should say they have all four courts set up at the event center in Casper. The Ford Center, I think it is now. I can never keep track of what the current sponsor is for the event center in Casper. All four teams are playing at the same time on the court. So it's rather an interesting event for those uh matches that they have down there. So a lot of fun things, great things happening here in the state of Wyoming. Taking a look at our history section, I found this story on wildhistory.org. Camping along the early Lincoln Highway in Wyoming by David Johnson. In twenty eleven, archaeologists from the Western Archaeological Services in Rock Springs, Wyoming recorded a historical campsite located along segments of the second and third generation Lincoln Highway in central Sweetwater County. The site is at the western edge of the Red Desert between Rollins, Wyoming, and Rock Springs. The Red Desert or the Great Divide Basin is a large internally draining basin some sixty miles wide, which the Lincoln Highway in the early and mid-20th century crossed from east to west. The Continental Divide splits the and encircles the basin. Water flows to either the Atlantic or the Pacific. The campsite contains clusters of inscriptions carved by Lincoln Highway travelers on sandstone outcrops located off the road. These inscriptions date back from 1910 to the nineteen fifties. There is also a scatter of historical artifacts including glass bottle fragments, tin cans, and fragments of ceramic tableware. The site was an informal camping area which saw repeated use over the early years of the Lincoln Highway. Used to climb when the third generation Lincoln Highway replaced the second generation route in nineteen thirty seven. When I eighty was built in the nineteen sixties, the site was bypassed altogether and forgotten. The Lincoln Highway was a work in progress over five decades, from nineteen thirteen to the construction of I eighty in the nineteen sixties. The road was upgraded in segments within individual counties rather than all at once across the entire state. As motor vehicles became larger, faster and more powerful, the highway's design changed to meet these advances. The route was moved, curves were straightened, and roads were widened, grades were lowered, and improved surfacing was added to allow for faster and safer travel. The three distinct construction phases are generally referred to as the first, second, and third generation highway. There are no fixed dates for these phases, as the highway was upgraded whenever specific segments were improved. The first generation refers to the original route designated by the National Lincoln Highway Association. This road dates back from nineteen thirteen to the nineteen twenties. It stitched together existing unimproved wagon roads or where available, abandoned sections of the Union Pacific Railroad's original eighteen sixty eight Transcontinental Route. West of Granger, in southwestern Wyoming, the original Lincoln Highway used the Oregon Trail. Little original construction was done on the early road. Wood and stone culverts and wooden bridges were built over Arroyos, but these were often flimsy and could not bear the weight of heavy truck traffic. The railroad grades were very narrow. It was nearly impossible for oncoming traffic to pass. Cropping the crust of a railroad grid was necessary to widen them for two way traffic. The second generation highway was designated by the Lincoln Highway Association as a boulevard. It was twenty four feet wide, two lane improved road, surfaced with gravel or crushed rock. In the early nineteen thirties, the surface was often sprayed with oil. Mecadam, an early form of road paving, was also used, especially on sections prone to erosion. More substantial culverts and bridges were built over the arroyos, and the large steel and concrete bridges crossed major rivers. Some second generation segments, not upgraded through third generation status in the nineteen thirties were paved with asphalt, but were not otherwise altered or widened. Second generation roads saw much new construction and new road alignment. Third generation routes were constructed from 1930 to 1940 through the completion of I-80 in 1960. These roads were thirty six feet wide, two lane highways with broad shoulders. Third generation segments were paved with asphalt or rarely with concrete. Some were upgraded, second generation routes, others were original construction. The development of the Lincoln Highway across Wyoming in the 1910s and 1920s necessitated the parallel development of a support infrastructure including tourist accommodations. Two forms of tourist accommodations were used hotels and campgrounds. Existing hotels in the late 19th and early 20th century were built in town and city centers along or near the railroad tracks. These hotels served local patrons or people traveling by train and were poorly suited by location and design for automotive traffic. The 1916 complete official road guide of the Lincoln Highway listed thirty six Wyoming communities along the Lincoln Highway between Pine Bluffs on the east and Evanston on the west. Of these thirty six towns, seventeen or forty-seven percent had hotel accommodations for a total of forty three hotels. Twenty-seven hotels or sixty three percent were located in major cities including Cheyenne, Laramie, Rollins, Rock Springs, Green River, and Evanston. Sixteen hotels were located in eleven smaller communities, either one or two to a town. There were five hotels located between Pine Bluffs and Cheyenne. No hotels between Cheyenne and Laramie, four hotels in three towns between Laramie and Rollins, two hotels located between Rollins and Rock Springs, and five hotels in three towns between Green River and Evanston. The other form of accommodation utilized by Lincoln Highway tourists was campgrounds. Lincoln Highway camping was initially a western feature due in part to the relatively small number of towns with hotels and long distance and bad roads between them. Very few camping areas were located in the eastern states because towns with hotels were numerous and closely spaced, with better quality roads resulting in faster travel. The Lincoln Highway Association encouraged camping as a way of saving money and to deal with a lack of hotel accommodations across the west. The Lincoln Highway Official Road Guide published long lists of camping equipment with early motorists were advised to bring with them for an anticipated camping stops and of foreseen breakdowns. This list of recommended supplies for a trip on the Oregon Trail in the late 1850s. Like those Oregon trail forebearers, early Lincoln Highway motor campers in Wyoming saw most campsite as a point along the way, not a destination. At first, campers simply parked along the side of the road. Because these days were largely overnight, the lack of formal campgrounds was not overly important. Groceries could be purchased in any town, and necessities such as water or firewood could be obtained from sympathetic ranchers or railroad camps. Of the thirty six communities between Pine Bluffs and Evanston, eighteen had campsit by 1916. No campsites were located between Pine Bluffs and Cheyenne or between Cheyenne and Laramie. There was camping in Cheyenne. The thirteen communities between Laramie and Rollins had eleven camping areas. Three of the seven communities between Rollins and Rock Springs and three of the five communities between Green River and Evanston also had campsites. Most of these early camping areas were unimproved fields. By 1920, it was estimated that one third of all Lincoln Highway motor tourists camped for part or all of their journey. It was becoming apparent that motor tourists had money to spend and it was of economic benefits to town and cities to convince them to stop and spend it. Towns and cities began to build formal municipal campgrounds within city limits to entice tourists to spend time and money in their town. Woman's first significant Lincoln Highway municipal campground opened in Cheyenne in 1920. Cheyenne was an important hub on the Lincoln Highway, as it was a junction with roads to Denver, Yellowstone Park, and the Colorado Rockies. It was also a tourist destination hosting the Frontier Days Rodeo, which attracted tens of thousands of visitors each July. The Cheyenne Municipal Campground became the largest and most elaborate campground along the Lincoln Highway in Wyoming. It came to include Washington cooking facilities, a store, post office, tourist information, firewood, and shelter from inclement weather. From 1920 to 1923, camping at the Cheyenne Municipal Campground was free. Expenses were covered by local businesses. In 1923, the campground began to charge 50 cents per night, about a$9 value in 2024. To support the facilities and discourage squatters, the success of the Cheyenne Municipal Campground quickly inspired other cities and towns including Pine Bluffs, Laramie, Rock River, Rollins, Rock Springs, and Green River to build their own municipal campgrounds. They were also free, at least at first. As municipal campgrounds grew and developed, towns tried to discourage roadside camping, which was seen as a health hazard as well as competition with formal campgrounds. In 1925, Cheyenne civic leaders coined the phrase promiscuous camping to describe tourists who set up camp in empty lots or in areas just out of Cheyenne's city limits in order to avoid paying the municipal camping fee. Roadside camps were seen as dangerous and dirty, and perhaps more important to urban leaders showed a lack of civil spirit in not supporting the municipal campgrounds. Civic leaders began to lobby for ordinance prohibiting roadside camping. By the late 1920s, tent camping began to evolve into motor courts, which consisted of small unfurnished wood frame cabins. Tourists also had to supply their own cooking and sleeping gear. Like the tent camping grounds, motor courts began to add anonymities, including stores, gas stations, washing and cooking equipment. After World War II, motels became the ultimate expression of tourist accommodations, but despite state and local laws and the interstate highway system, roadside camping never entirely disappeared. The Red Desert Lincoln Highway campsite is located at the west edge of the Great Divide Basin. The site consists of an informal roadside camping area along the second and third generation segments of the Lincoln Highway. The second generation highway segment consists of a two-lane boulevard built in 1920s. Lincoln Highway standards. The route of the 1920 variant was originally surveyed in 1919 and followed the first generation route. The highway consists of 24 foot wide two-lane boulevards. The road bed consists of low berm with shallow borrowed ditches to the east and west. The road had been surfaced with crushed rock gravel. Some asphalt isn't present. South of the segment near the crossing of the 1930 variant. It sees no modern traffic. The third generation segment consists of a two-lane paved highway built in 1937 to 1930 Lincoln Highway standards. The segment consists of a 36 foot wide two-lane highway paved with asphalt. Yellow sandal lines are still visible across much of the segment. The highway follows existing terrain. However, shallow cuts are present along the crest of the finger ridges and fills are present across the bottom of valleys. The integrity of the asphalt paving and the presence of those yellow center lines indicates that this segment was maintained up to 1960 when it was replaced by I-80. The segment saves occasional modern traffic. The campsite consists of five sandstone rock outcrops containing historical inscriptions dating to the early 20th century and a scatterer of historical artifacts which date to the same period. Inscriptions are located on either side of the second generation Lincoln Highway. The third generation segment of the Lincoln Highway is located approximately 150 feet south of this site. The inscriptions are located on five isolated sandstone outcrops designated panel one, two, three, four, and five. Panels one and two are located on the to the east of the 1920 Lincoln Highway segment, and panel three, four, and five are located west of the road segments. Fragments of broken glass are present at the base of several of these outcrops, indicating that these artifacts were used to carve at least some of the inscriptions. The largest set of inscriptions located on panel one, a large sandstone outcrop located to the east of the 1920 Lincoln Highway segment. Panel one is in an isolated sandstone outcrop approximately 105 feet long by 50 foot wide by six foot to ten foot tall. The outcrop is located approximately sixty feet east of the nineteen twenty Lincoln Highway segment. The inscriptions are concentrated along the south, southeast, and southwest side of the outcrop. The inscriptions consist of names and initials with a small number of location and several dates. On panel two, it is located on a small isolated sandstone outcrop located approximately forty foot east of panel one. Panel two is approximately twenty feet long by twelve foot wide and six foot tall. Inscriptions are found on all sides of the outcrop. Panel three is located on the west of the Lincoln Highway 1920 variant at the north end of the site. The panel is a small isolated sandstone outcrop. It is located approximately 40 feet west of the highway segment at the base of a ridge forming the west side of the valley. The sandstone outcrop is approximately 15 feet long by 15 feet wide and 5 feet tall. Few inscriptions were noted on this outcrop. Panel 4 is a small sandstone outcrop located on the west side of the site, approximately 30 feet south of panel three and 60 feet west of the Lincoln Highway segment. The outcrop is 12 foot long by 12 feet high by 5 foot wide. Only two inscriptions were noted on this outcrop. And panel five is a relatively large sandstone outcrop located west of the Lincoln Highway segment along the west side of the valley. The outcrop is located a hundred feet south of panel four and thirty feet west of the Lincoln Highway segment. The outcrop is thirty foot long, fifteen feet wide by six foot tall. Inscriptions are located on the east, south, and north side of the outcrop. Historical artifacts were found across the site. Artifacts include food storage cans, glass bottle fragments, and ceramic tableware. Glass bottle fragments include solarized amethyst glass, brown glass, white glass, and clear glass bottle fragments. Solarized amethyst glass bottle fragments include one wide mouth rim from a milk bottle. Brown and clear glass bottle fragments were alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage bottles. White glass fragments are from the personal bottles, likely cold cream or lotion. Decorative glass fragments that were also found are likely bowls or cups. Two identifiable bottle marks were found at that site. One dated between nineteen hundred and nineteen twenty nine. The second dated between nineteen twenty nine and nineteen fifty four. Ceramic tableware fragments were also present at the site. At least two plates are represented by the fragments. One was a manufacture between nineteen fourteen and nineteen twenty five. The second date was from eighteen ninety four to nineteen oh nine. In addition to glass and ceramics, ten can fragments are also noted. One hole in top can and six sanitary can fragments held fruit or vegetables. One evaporated milk can and one beer can, which had been opened with a church key were also noted. The artifacts and inscriptions found at the site indicate this was an informal roadside campsite for the Lincoln Highway Motorists. The narrow valley and rock outcrops may have provided a welcome change from the relatively unambiguous scenery that had been seen during the long crossing of the Red Desert. Historical documents do not mention this area as a formal camp. No structural remains were found. The date inscriptions and diagnostic artifacts all point to the site being used during the early to mid-20th century. Canned goods, evaporated milk and beverage bottles and cans indicate that meals were prepared and assumed at the site. Meals included canned fruit or vegetables were served on ceramic plates and in glass bowls or cups. Alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages were consumed. Lotion or cold cream bottles indicate personal health or hygiene was also practiced at the site. While stopped at the site, motorists carved their names into the sandstone outcrops. The dates on panel one range from 1918 to 25. The dates on panel two range from the 1930s to 1956. The diagnostic bottles dated from 1900 to 1929 and from 1929 to 1954. Ceramic plate dates from 1894 to 1909 and 1914 to 1925. The inscription dates and the full diagnostic artifacts all fall within the range of use of the first, second, and third generation variants of the Lincoln Highway. Inscriptions by motorists from Pulaski, Wisconsin, Astoria, Oregon, Salt Lake, and possibly Massachusetts and Georgia showed that people from across the country stopped here. No other cities or towns are located within eight miles of the site. The Red Desert Roadside campsite reflected an important aspect of early travel on the Lincoln Highway in Wyoming. Roadside camping grew out of lack of alternative accommodations, the long distances, poor roads, and lack of accommodations in the Red Desert led travelers to create their informal stops on their own. Even the development of a private And municipal campgrounds in the nineteen twenties did not bring an end to roadside camping. It was a critical feature in early tourist travel, fulfilling a need which other available accommodations could not satisfy. Very uh interesting story on the start of motor travel. Today we look at our estate and that's all we see going down the road are campers. Motor homes and campers, especially in the summer, it gets real heavy here. And how much we've changed with our ability with our vehicles and our roads and our campgrounds, a time and our history that made Wyoming what we are today. 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.