Welcome And What’s Ahead

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Good morning and welcome to Let's Talk Wyoming. Today we'll be talking about our Wyoming weather and the heat that is on its way. What a change that we're having. We'll also talk about things happening here in our state, talk about the 4th of July, data centers, and everything else, even some World Cup soccer. Thanks for joining us, and we hope you enjoy the pod.

Wyoming Heat Wave And Summer Storms

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Been away from the pod for a while, been busy with other stuff. I wanted to get back on and kind of give a recap of everything happening here in the area. Hoping everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. Weather wise, we are here in Wyoming. We've had a little bit of everything leading up to the 4th. And now here the weekend after that, we've got heat warnings for the area. Saw most of the region here in Wyoming will be in the hundreds over the weekend for about three days, with Saturday being the hottest day at 106. I haven't seen 106 in quite some time, at least here in Wyoming. I know down in Arizona and those places it's a norm, but it isn't here. So it's gonna be pretty brutal with everything going on. Weather wise, again, heat. We've had some wind and it's just kind of crazy. At night you'll get these crazy winds blowing through, and a lot of us just these little mini disturbances going through. There's been some heavy rain in areas, there's been some lightning, uh, other issues, but we're in July. We're at those dog days of summer here going forward. So, weather in Wyoming, kind of like it is everywhere. We're into summer. And

Fourth Of July In Tensleep

SPEAKER_01 2:20

other happenings in the area, of course, we had the 4th of July. Just finished up, had a great 4th of July here in our area. 4th of July celebration is a little town of Tensleep. It's over at the base of the Bighorn, about 60 miles from Thermopolis, and about 30 miles east of Wortland, Wyoming. And they have a parade and a full day of events. They have a rodeo there, a small rodeo, and a lot of people like to go over and take that in. Got a chance to just go through 10 sleep after the rodeo. We had a family engagement up on the bighorns, and that's where we went for the day. Beautiful day up there, just gorgeous. Breeze was blowing, and and it was really enjoyable sitting on a deck in a small cabin, and got to take in a just a beautiful view with a lot of family, family from out of state and local, and it's always an enjoyable part of the 4th of July. We did a little bit of singing. Two of the my wife's uh cousin and the son-in-law of my sister-in-law. He is a musician, they both play guitar and do a great job, so we got a treat for them playing for us, and then we all sang a lot of patriotic songs. So it was a pretty cool day. Went back and came off the mountain, and town of Tentsleep was starting to get a little busier. A little nighttime party action and dance and all the everything else that was going on in the area, so it's rather enjoyable. Of course, up in our bighns, we always comment about the rock climbers. The bighorns are at least that portion above Tentsleep is a predominant area for rock climbers. We get a lot of them that will stay there for the winter, and I think, I mean, for the winter, excuse me, for the summer, and I think a lot of them will hang around even into the fall and different parts, be able to climb that mountain. They've got some new areas, and I noticed where we were up at the Battle Park area, there is starting to be a lot of them spreading out and camping up there. You can tell by the tents that they are kind of taking over the area. I didn't see a camper up there, uh, didn't see much traffic at all. I was really shocked for the 4th of July in the area where we were, did not see many people, and that's an unusual for the 4th of July. So I don't know if that where people are going, but I know they had a big celebration up at Cody, Wyoming. A lot of people try to hit that Cody parade. I have never been brave enough to go to it. I guess I'm gonna have to put that on my to-do list. They have a parade, I think two days, the third and the fourth. The biggest thing for the parade is just getting access to Cody to find parking. But um they have a Grand Marshal, and I did not hear who the grand marshal was. Shame on me. But they've had a lot of different people, and a lot of the marching bands from around the state of Wyoming will perform in the parade. You see a lot of yellow buses there on the third and fourth of the schools around the state bringing their bands in and letting them perform. But there's a big crowd up there. Of course, they have that big rodeo, Cody. They have it uh all summer long, and it really attracts the people. So Cody was very active. I know other parts of the state were just the same way. So good celebration. I hope in your area that you got a chance to celebrate the 4th of July. We did have fireworks here in uh Hot Springs County that night, and of course we have a fire restriction going, but they allowed the fireworks in the city to limit us. Fire department had a fireworks show, and lo and behold, they did set a grass fire, but they were prepared, they had their equipment out there, so they had to put out a fire that night from the fireworks, but it's always enjoyable for the fireworks. And of course there were a lot of people we got a chance coming home that night to see the events at the White House. They had their performance and then they had their fireworks show, which some people thought was pretty excessive. But you know, it's 250 years, people, that we've been a nation, so we need to celebrate those. I can remember back in 76, I was around in 76 and there was a big celebration in Worland, Wyoming, community hall there that has since burned down. But it was a very big party and celebration for the 200, so I guess I made it through yet another fifty. I don't know if I'll make it another fifty. That would put me really old, but again, happy birthday, America, and it was an outstanding show there in Washington DC for the fireworks that they had.

Road Trip South And Traffic Safety

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Other things, been doing a little bit of traveling, but had to make a trip down before the 4th of July, down to Cheyenne area. I usually go down through from Shoshone to Casper and then down 25, and this time decided to take a different route because they've been doing some road construction between Shoshone and Casper. So I went down to Riverton and across to Jeffree City and come back into Rollins. Just a little different uh route. And it was actually I'm glad I went that way. It was really pretty quiet. You don't get a lot of traffic that way. And uh coming out of Riverton, going up Beaver Rim, when you get up on top of Beaver Rim, you've got some unbelievable uh scenery up there you can really see forever. And when you look off to the west, it's just kind of breathtaking, really pretty it is. Got uh Rollins and got to stop and and get some baked goods from the Mennonite ladies. Again, thank those gals. They did a great job. Some great cinnamons and cookies there in Rollins, Wyoming, by the McDonald's parking lot. Got over to Laramie, went to the old Corona Village. That's always been a place that we went every year. It's changed names and but it's the Corona Village to me. It's just everything's exactly the same. But um had that trip over on 80. Now, when you get on I-80, if anybody's traveling it, it can get a little bit hairy at times with all those semis going down the road. I used to go that way quite a bit. We'd go down to football games in Laramie from Hot Springs County and quit going that way just because of the traffic on I-80. So I'd always go to Casper and over to uh go south Shirley Basin and that way to Medicine Bow Rock River and into Laramie. But went across and after we ate in Laramie, I cannot believe uh Laramie is really booming there. The Grand Avenue is just really filled out through the years. I went to school back in the 70s in Laramie, so a lot of it's still the same, but there's been a lot of added on to that town. And then over to Cheyenne and up over the summit, and when you get on top, the amount of windmills is just crazy. I I wish that it's just kind of scarred our landscape. I don't care what anybody says, it really has. And a lot of those, I wonder how long they're gonna be staying functional before they uh shut them down or whatever, because they have to go and replace the blades periodically. They was too wear out. So but had a good trip. Came back home through uh on 25 across Casper to Shoshone. The construction was shut down for the weekend. The other thing here in the state of Wyoming, like a lot of places, with traffic is that people just have to slow down. They need to slow down. There was a really bad accident between Shoshone and Casper. Some people were killed and and some problems there, so it's always a good idea. It seems like people are a little crazy when they're out on the road. So slow down. You'll have plenty of time to get where you need to go. Taking

World Cup Stories And US Reality

SPEAKER_01 10:44

a look at Wyoming sports, it's pretty quiet here in our state of Wyoming right now. Not much going on in the state of Wyoming. Just a little bit of summer activities for team camps and that type of stuff. But my real interest, I've started following the World Cup that's taking place here in the U.S. I don't know how many people are watching it. But it's it's amazing the amount of people across the world, the extent of football, which we call soccer, that the countries do, and I've kind of got to follow some of the countries and some of the stories behind it. And the one that is really intriguing is the one for Norway. Joung Holland, soccer player from Norway, I call him the the Viking. He is it right out of a script from a Viking movie. They celebrate, they have are into the quarterfinals, but when they celebrate, they have a after the game they get into the rowing position and and someone will hit the drum and they'll row, just like the Vikings did in their long boats at the time. But it's been rather entertaining. Argentina with Lionel Messi. Just that action and the amount of people and intrigue in these are just unbelievable. Unfortunately, the Americans got eliminated in the round of 16 by Belgium. It was rather embarrassing, four to one loss. But you got to realize that those people in these other countries, they live with soccer. There are young kids who are playing soccer, just uh the level, and they keep saying that there just isn't the money in it. That's why the athletes go to these other sports. There's not the money available. But there is some of these foreigners and all these other countries, they play in a lot of different leagues and make a lot of money, but they keep talking about what are we going to do with soccer here in the U.S. But it was uh okay show, it was going good until that round of 16, and then they got embarrassed by Belgium. So I don't know. I'm I'm like to see Norway go away. Of course, England is playing Norway on Saturday. And I am half English. My mother was a war bride, and so I guess those are some of my people there in England, but I'll be rooting for both of them. So it'll be interesting to watch. And the intrigue with it of playing that soccer, you watch those games and you realize how tough a game it is, and you're up and down that field all the time, especially in these weather conditions that we're facing now. So World Cup is on my interest right now. I know we're getting to that point where we'll shoot through July pretty fast, and then we'll start getting into football, our football here. They'll start getting prepared. The colleges and the NFL and the high schools will be into it in August, and all the other fall sports will take place, the volleyball, which I just really enjoy. So baseball's going on right now, but I've kind of don't watch much baseball. I played a lot of baseball and a lot of involvement with baseball, but just have not lost interest in baseball, the professional baseball here in the U.S. So U.S., who do you have? I'm thinking I'm thinking that France is gonna be hard. Everybody says they're the favorite, but you just never know. Maybe that big Viking can pull Norway through. Or maybe Lionel Messi will bring Argentina back for a repeat of their World Cup victory four years ago.

Data Centers And Primary Season Tensions

SPEAKER_01 14:36

And other news here in the state of Wyoming have to always talk about data centers. The data centers are still front and center in Cheyenne. And also in Detroit County is looking at one. In Cheyenne, they just recently had had a situation of the uh one data center released some uh uh bacteria in uh wastewater that got into the treatment plant that caused the Cheyenne treatment plant uh to go down and have major itches. Come to find out, of course, it came from that data center. They've used that water and green water for golf courses and had dumped into a creek. This bacteria was very deadly and very bad, so not a very good uh note to have about data centers, especially where the city seemed to have kept it under wrap for a while before they had a vote the previous week and they kept it quiet till after the vote to approve data centers. Just another situation that happens, these people you can tell how corrupt they are when they do something like that. So the battle continues against data centers, and also here in the state, we are about six weeks away from our Republican primary. Really don't have many Democrats. Most of the Democrats have decided to become Republicans. And so here in Wyoming, we're got a pretty full field on a lot of these races, and uh right now the battle's between the Republicans, and it's gotten pretty dirty. We want the either the Freedom Caucus Republicans or the real Republicans, and it has gotten to that point where these events are happening in counties. They had one here in Hot Springs County, they had the Freedom Caucus uh Republican event where they bring candidates in, and then they had the uh real Republican have their dinner. So it just doesn't end here, and it's gonna be rather heated going for for the next six weeks. A lot of yard signs and highway signs and such. So election season, it's even getting tough here at the local level. So elections and data centers, probably the two big hot ticket items here in the state of Wyoming. In

Fort Steele And Wyoming’s Railroad Past

SPEAKER_01 17:03

our history section, came across an interesting article on Fort Fredstill, Wyoming. Abandoned but not forgotten. Fort Fredstele was established on June 20th, 1868 to guard the men who were building the Union Pacific Railroad across southern Wyoming against the Indian attacks. Located on the west bank of the North Platte River, the site was selected by Colonel Richard Dodge and named for Major General Frederick Steele, a Civil War hero. Initially the post was little more than a tent city until some 300 troops were assigned to build the fort. In addition to the troops, more civilians were hired to assist with the construction. The post eventually included a sawmill, an engineer, a blacksmith, a saddler, and a wheelwright, a barracks, an office quarter, and other fort buildings. Most of the buildings were constructed of wood cut from Elk Mountain. Before long, the railroad and the fort attracted cattlemen, sheepherders, loggers, miners, and merchants to the area, and a small community sprang up around the fort. In September of eighteen seventy nine, while Major Thomas T. Thornborough was the commander of Fort Stale, Ute Indians angry over prospectors evading their lands were creating disturbances in northern Colorado. Thornborough and his men were ordered to put down the uprising and soon set out towards the White River Indian Agency in Rio Blanco County, Colorado. However, before they arrived, the Utes burned the building of the agency and killed Indian agent Nathan C. Meeker and nine employees in what is known as the Meeker Massacre on September 29, 1879. That very day, Thornborough and his men arrived at the northern edge of the Ute Reservation and were ambushed by the Indians. Major Thomas T. Thoroughborough and thirteen of his soldiers were killed. In retaliation of the next weeks, what is known as the Battle of Milk Creek took place, subduing the Ute Indians. Construction of the Union Pacific Railroad stimulated the growth of the timber industry in southern Wyoming. A sawmill was built on the east side of the North Platte River by Cole and Carbon, who supplied the lumber for Fort Still until 1886. After the railroad was complete, the soldiers continued to protect the area, especially the vulnerable railroad bridge across the North Platte River. However, by 1886 the area Indians had been subdued, and the War Department deactivated the post on august seventh. The troops were transferred to other military facilities, and the vast majority of the bodies buried at the post cemetery were moved to Fort McPherson National Cemetery in Nebraska. In the cemetery were the remains of eighty people who worked in or around the fort, including one officer, twenty five soldiers, twenty four soldiers, eight children, two wives, and forty five unknowns or civilians. Today the cemetery included just a few remains and broken markers. Though the soldiers were gone, the small settlement had grown up around the fort remained, prospering for a time as a logging center. During this time, the sawmill continued to prosper. While cutting and shaping the trees, only a single guard remained at the post to oversee the property. In eighteen ninety two and eighteen ninety three, most of the buildings were sold at public auction and were removed from the fort. In eighteen ninety four the remaining buildings and land were sold to the Cosgriff brothers, who began a major sheep operation, establishing large herds in the area. They constructed one of the largest sheep shearing plants in the state in 1903. In nineteen oh five, over eight hundred thousand pounds of wool were shipped to Boston, the largest single shipment of wool ever sent out of Wyoming. Somewhere along the line, the Carbon Timber Company bought the sawmill, which floated over one and a half million timbers down the North Platte River in nineteen oh nine. Today the remains of the Carbon Timber Company can be seen across the river. In nineteen fifteen, the Cosgriff land, including that of the old post, was purchased by another large sheet owner by the name of L. E. Vinian. A house, a lean to, and a shed were also part of the operation were continued to stand. A small settlement got a reprieve when the Lincoln Highway, the nation's first transcontinental highway, passed through the town, boosting the economy between nineteen forty. twenty and nineteen thirty-nine. During this time, some of the old barracks and other buildings at Fort Steele were used as gasoline stations, cafes, and motels. The largest hotel, containing twenty-two rooms, was housed in an old military barracks building. Unfortunately, it burned down in November of nineteen twenty-three. Until it was rerouted, the Lincoln Highway took motors straight through the middle of Fort Redstill. However, in nineteen thirty-nine, US 30 was rerouted and paved a few years later at its present location near I-80. At that time, most of the commercial activity ended, and the number of residents declined rapidly. With World War II's beginning and the timber industry's end, the town was dealt its final death blow. In 1973, the Wyom State Legislature created the Fort Fredstill State Historical Site. Today visitors to the fort can walk along an interpretive trail and see the remnants of two large warehouses, the officers' quarter, and the powder magazine. The only full intact structure remaining. A couple of wooden buildings also remain, along with the cemetery's remains. The old post is located about nine miles east of St. Clair, Wyoming. Just about one mile north of I-80 on exit two nineteen. A place to add to your list. And now that I see that, I drove pretty close to that area. I'll make sure the next time that I go down on that way from Rollins over to Laramie and that country, I need to stop by Fort Fred Still.

Visitor Tip And Closing Thanks

SPEAKER_01 23:43

If you'd like to reach them, the number is 307-320-3013. Again, 307-320-3013 for Fort Fred Still at Seminole State Park, a place to stop while you're here in the state of Wyoming. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the legends of the West for this interesting story.