If I added up all the years that I spent outside the borders of Wyoming, the total would be about a dozen out of my 75. That includes traipsing around Italy and Mexico for years, college in Colorado, working in Texas and New Mexico, and generally seeing what was around me.
I was born and raised in the Big Empty, indulged my case of wanderlust and kept coming back home. My dad told me more than once that my roots are as deep in Wyoming as anyone’s, they’re just a good bit stretchier.
Let’s talk about deep Wyoming roots.
What do deep roots mean in a modern age of transience, when Americans behave like nomads constantly moving from place to place to find a home? States lose population, and states gain population as people uproot themselves seeking a better place.
That’s a fact of life and not necessarily a bad one. After all, this is America and the freedom to move around is one of the blessings of our shared liberty. All of us in Wyoming came from somewhere else, whether we arrived last year or 10,000 years ago. We came from the Big Elsewhere to put down roots here.
Now let’s talk about politics.
Newcomers are welcome in Wyoming right up to the point that they try to rearrange the political life of the Cowboy State. That’s where we draw a line in the dust and plant our boot heels. We do that because we are a conservative state — conservative in the truest sense of the word.
We like to conserve the good stuff that works and has served us well for generations. We don’t embrace change for the sake of change. Conservative is who we are as people, and only a fraction of that is political.
Newcomers to Wyoming who want to jump right in and change our political culture would be wise to remember that. The Freedom Caucus falls into that category.
Just because someone was on a chamber of commerce in Missouri or hosted a podcast in California doesn’t mean that they qualify to govern in Wyoming. Reading about Wyoming on the internet is very different from learning about Wyoming from grandparents who spent their lives here. Very different!
Understanding the soul of Wyoming does not come quickly. Wyomingites who have experienced our booms and busts, droughts and bitter winters have acquired that understanding honestly. Wyoming teaches us her cyclical nature and resilience in the face of it. That takes time, and that’s why deep roots matter.
It takes time to watch the everyday antagonisms and animosities among neighbors — over fences, water or the vagaries of life — dissolve when an imminent disaster requires everyone to work together. Only then will someone realize that in Wyoming, “neighbor” is a verb.
Learn how to wear that Stetson before you toss it into the political ring.
Exploiting our difference is not Wyoming; neighboring is. Anyone who doesn’t understand that will get steamrolled when we come together.
It takes time among Wyomingites to realize that our small towns and counties are the bone structure of our state, not tax burdens that hold us back. That same lesson is learned at the feet of grandparents with deep Wyoming roots. And nobody who has learned that lesson is willing to sacrifice that part of Wyoming on the altar of the political dogma du jour.
It also takes time to absorb how deeply the “live and let live” ethos is ingrained in Wyoming citizens.
The lesson about how we detest being shoved around by outsiders can only be learned by harsh experience. The Johnson County War is a case in point. I’d advise newcomers to study up on it.
Wyoming cannot be understood on the surface. She can only be understood from the roots up.
Anyone moving to Wyoming and telling us to forget our heritage and its lessons, that it’s time to tear down what our forebears built to make way for something new, is speaking blasphemy with an out-of-state accent. Make sure your bullshit detectors pick up on it.
I am heartened to see many good, deeply rooted Wyoming citizens announce for important political offices this election cycle. They offer that generational wisdom that we need today. The mess that Freedom Caucus political newcomers made of things will take steady hands and a lot of neighboring to clean up. But I like our chances if we listen to our roots.
I’ll close by saying to newcomers to the Big Empty, welcome! But before you run for political office, take the time to get to know this place. Don’t try to tell us that how things are done in Michigan or Tennessee is how they should be done here. Grow some Wyoming roots first. Learn how to wear that Stetson before you toss it into the political ring.
A fine essay on the best aspects of a sustainable “community”, but the embrace of the tired conceit of “Wyoming native” misses the mark. Being born in this arbitrary rectangle of land conveys no special wisdom, and is as likely to produce a pernicious attitude of special privilege as it is to produce the noble traits of the popular “Code of the West” (written by a Wall Street financier from Kentucky).
Sure, we should be proud of ancestors’ vision and tenacity in populating our beloved state. But even as a kid, it was obvious to me that Yellowstone Park was far better off in the hands of the federal government than of the Cody Chamber of Commerce. Wyoming is populated from the same pool of folks as every other state – good, bad, and ugly.
We should certainly tap the wisdom of our forefathers to guide us in these perilous times. But we should also embrace the fresh perspectives and creativity of those just arrived. Our leaders should be evaluated based on the quality of their character and held to account as their actions display their priorities, not sorted out on their place of birth.
Wyoming needs less root-counting and more good judgment. Our state has had no shortage of deeply rooted people teaming up with imported ideologies and then calling the result “Wyoming values.” The ones I have in mind leave their mark by reshaping Wyoming to fit whatever dogma happens to suit them at the moment.. They wrap it in the language of faith, conservatism, heritage, or some other slogan (sound byte) meant to stick. But labels do not make bad ideas wise, and deep roots do not guarantee fairness, decency, or sound judgment.
I took your advice and read about the Johnson County War. I understand the point. But maybe an even better place to start is Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears. That history reminds us that roots, tradition, and identity are not automatically noble. They can preserve what is good, but they can also be used to justify cruelty, exclusion, and power. I feel we have a lot of that going on in Wyoming right now. The question is not whether deep roots deserve our trust. The question is where those roots are truly taking us.? Its time to start thinking critically instead of treating “the Wyoming Way” as an excuse not to think at all.
It is more than the newcomers who insist on changing the state, it’s also the longtime residents who have decided to sell out to out of state cash and philosophies of the ultra wealthy attempting to “buy “ Wyoming.
Freedumb Caucus fits that description.
Funny how the two FC members originally from Missouri and California are mentioned in the article.
The Speaker of the House is a FC member and has as deep of roots to Wyoming as the author. He is as a solid supporter of Wyoming as you will ever know and a real conservative.
Why not mention him????
I guess it just doesn’t fit the narrative?
Surely you speak of Chip “Checkgate” Neiman. Most of us will agree that the “Chipster” pretty much showed who he really is during this recent legislative debacle. If you want to promote someone who’s truly all in for “Wyoming”, Mike, then you need to dig a little deeper.
I moved into Wyoming in 1980. By 1982 I was agitating to change the policy of not allowing state lands to be leased for recreational use. In 1988 a group of us got that policy changed.
In 2003 WY closed road access to a large number of WY State Lands East of Sheridan. That stimulated the formation of the Public Land Users Committee (PLUC), which incorporated in 2004. We obtained the 1st state lease for recreational use (Off-Highway Vehicles) for Sheridan County in 2009. The 3-Poles lease is still open for recreational ORV use during daylight hours.
We also have picnic shelters (Courtesy of the Scouts Troop 117), and a remote control arena for radio controlled vehicles.
Most of the board members for the original PLUC were not Wyoming natives. They were people who looked at the situation and figured: “We can do better.”
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told “That ain’t state land,” by someone claiming to be 4th or 6th generation Wyoming natives, but more than a few. SU-609 goes to show you the power of a fresh perspective.
While I first spent time in Lander country in the early 70s, I didn’t move here until 1981. So I’m still a newcomer to many. I’d never live anywhere else. No where else. I think you’d find me an okay citizen. I’m honest, hard-working, enjoy helping others. I don’t preach much, but I do vote, write some letters to the three federal legislators who don’t necessarily represent me, and do the best I can for my state. I’m only coming 73, so I may have another decade or two to love my state. I promise I won’t run for office.
Amen. Well said.
Rod, My Grandfather came to Fremont County in 1914. So I’m only a 3rd generation Wyomingite. But I so get what you’re saying. My Grandpa was absolutely a live and let live Wyomingite! I probably learned my political leanings from him more than anyone. He admired Regan… voted Republican his entire life. He would not recognize the party he was so proud of now. Probably “tsk, tsk, tsking” in heaven. Keep writing. Best, L.
Thank you! I have never understood why those who move here want Wyoming to be like the place they diliked enough to leeave the place where thy were.
Teton County, the pinnacle of anti-Wyoming outsider influence.
It aint “conservative”, and it votes the opposite of the majority of the rest of the State.
I’m a newcomer. Just less than 6 years here in Cheyenne. I am humbly grateful for your message. May I be so bold as to wonder how it is then that the committed generations who have absorbed the spirit of neighboring have so soundly embraced (by virtue of their vote) the false promise of someone like Mr. Trump?
Welcome to Wyoming Lynne!
Being born and raised here I’ve wondered the same thing since Trump was first elected in 2017. At that time I thought it was probably just an anomoly and the people here were voting for what they thought was a “successful businessman”…at least that’s what I heard from my friends that voted for him. Then in 2025, after experiencing the MAGA con previously, they went and did it again. At that point I started to question the intellegence and morals of some of my neighbors.
In the not too distant past, this state tended to vote for the most qualified person to do the job. We actually had folks in Washington that could think for themselves, and often did, such as Alan Simpson (and I’m going to get some snarky comments from our friends on the far right for this one), Liz Cheney. Unlike our Trump loving contingent in D.C.presently, they had ethics and red lines that couldn’t be crossed. I didn’t agree with everything they did but you’re not supposed to. At least there was a strong sense of decency to most of our past politicians in Wyoming and hopefully, after this upcoming election, some of that will start to return.
Again, welcome Lynne. This state could use more people with common sense right now and you sound like you could be one of them.
Now hold on there, varmint. So the Wyoming that fought gay rights is a real “live and let live” type of place? Wyoming wants to conserve public land, which is why we back politicos trying to sell it to billionaires? What in tarnation? The reality is that Wyoming dances the way the Fox News, Newsmax and OAN fiddlers play. Its fitting that a state which imports its values imports its politicians too, ya flea-bitten rabbits!
There is wisdom in what you’re preaching Rod, but strong roots don’t amount to squat if you insist on shoving the plants in the dirt with the green side down. John is from Pennsylvania so you gotta cut the guy some slack, but Harriet and Cynthia… Those two outta know better…
Silly Rod! Wyoming is a republican state, not a conservative one.
Thank you for mentioning the definition of conservatism. The WY Democratic Party is currently more conservative by definition than the WY Republican Party, which has been infiltrated by radicals. Radical is an antonym of conservative.
I also appreciate the mention of “live and let live.” This is the heart of the value system of this state. Because we have ample elbow room, we respect each other’s boundaries. We respect each other’s privacy. We mind our own business.
Growing deep roots is necessary to thrive in this windy, dry environment. Those of us who didn’t blow away after graduating high school tend to have very long taproots, like purple thistle, almost impossible to uproot.
Not born here but in 50+ years I put down some pretty sturdy roots. Agree with everything you said Rod.
As another born and raised Wyomingite, you nailed it Rod. Thanks so much for saying the obvious parts out loud.
As always, you succinctly write what I think and feel! I struggle to put my anger into words, but you manage to say what I wish I’d said! Thank you!
Over my life time I have been at the table with folks of very diverse opinions. We were civil to each other. We broke bread together. We were friends.
Don’t be too hard of the newcomers, they have a President who just declared democrats evil. He is trying to foment a civil war. He needs a dose of old Wyoming culture.
Once again, well done sir
Well stated, Rod. I’ve only been here since 1987, but I can identify with your sentiments.
I’ve been a fan of Rod Miller’s writing ever since I discovered him when I moved back home 6 years ago. His common sense logic and perspective is comforting in a chaotic world that is hard to understand. Even more comforting and cheering however are the WyoFile requirements for commenting on a story. Those WyoFile criteria should be taught verbatim in school for kids to learn how to have civil discourse. They nearly brought tears to my eyes because they show that there are still people out there who share my disgust and anger at the lying, self-serving nabobs who are attempting to take over our country and state. Thank you for existing Wyofiles (and Rod Miller too).
Once again, great work, Rod
Rod makes good points. For those who move here, take time to learn about Wyoming. T.A, Larsen writings are a good place to start. Used to be required class at UW . For those who come here, pay heed to generational wisdom. Learn about the players of the past. Some good and some not so good.