WyoFile’s staff collected some of its favorite images published in 2017 to remind us all of the year gone by.
To start, we chose an image of bison on the Wind River Reservation by Alexis Bonogofsky who photographed a transplant of buffalo last fall. We feel that the photograph and story she told represents much of what is good about the Equality State. Many of the pictures, like Bonogofsky’s, were contributed by generous photographers whose help we greatly appreciate.
In the gallery below you can find other inspiring images that tell of some of the goings on in Wyoming in 2017. From perplexed legislators to working cowpokes, volunteers to biologists, revelers to mourners, we hope this smattering of pictures reminds all of our bountiful home.
You can click on the headlines to see the story each photograph accompanied. To read the captions, roll your cursor over the bottom of the picture.
A former client of Karen Budd-Falen, Freddie Botur, rides in front of the Wind River Range near where the potential BLM leader grew up. Botur said this photograph, taken by Game and Fish employee Mark Gocke, was used poster-like by the BLM to promote proper grazing management, but that he later got crossways with the agency and hired Budd-Falen to resolve permit violations. The BLM and Botur’s family and ranch are on good terms today, the agency says. (Mark Gocke/Wyoming Game and Fish Dept.)
Ray Pilgrim and other members of American Legion Post 43 in Jackson rehearse their honor guard routine in the historic log building before Veterans Day ceremonies on the Town Square on Nov. 11. Pilgrim, 74, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard, wears the post’s uniform sweater and envelope cap as he hefts a 9-pound, eight-round, .30 caliber semi-automatic Garand M1 rifle used in WWII and Korea, a standard U.S. military honor guard firearm. (Angus M. Thuermer Jr./WyoFile)
Retired school bus driver Russ Wood escorts two of his several “passengers” the last half block to their class at Jackson Elementary School on Thursday, part of the school district’s Walking School Bus. State administrative rules say districts should not provide bus service to students who live within a mile of their elementary schools, so Wood is part of a program to ensure their safety.(Angus M. Thuermer Jr./WyoFile)
Students and fans rush the field after the Cowboys beat the Rams 16 to 13 in Saturday’s Border War, a long college rivalry between University of Wyoming and Colorado State University. The stadium appeared more like a snow globe in one of the most memorable Border Wars in five decades. (Samantha Case/WyoFile)
Target shooting is a popular form of outdoor recreation and use of public lands in Wyoming. It’s also a boon to gun and ammunition retailers. (Matthew Copeland/WyoFile)
Maggie Roberts Goddard helps drive a herd of Angus cattle past the Wind River Range in Daniel. In Sublette County, some 70,000 head of cattle and calves make up the historic backbone of the area’s economy. (Angus M. Thuermer Jr./WyoFile)
Cheech Marin, center, smiles and poses for a photograph with members of UW’s chapter of MEChA — which in English stands for the Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan — a student organization dedicated to promoting Chicano culture and values. (Andrew Graham/WyoFile)
Cowboy hats on a coatrack outside the chamber of the Wyoming House of Representatives in the Jonah Building, temporary home to the State Legislature. Wyoming’s citizen legislature is made up of ranchers, bankers, retirees, businessmen and a few lawyers. They have limited staff and rely on the public and agency experts to guide their policy choices. (Andrew Graham/WyoFile)
Jason and Dick Baldes, at Dick’s home in Fort Washakie, represent two generations of Eastern Shoshone seeking to restore wild bison to the Wind River Indian Reservation. Bringing bison back could heal cultural wounds and improve health, tribal members say. (Angus M. Thuermer Jr./WyoFile)
Alyson Klaczkiewicz and daughter Kaia chat about The Fishbowl, an installation at the Center for the Arts in Jackson. Created by artist Bland Hoke, the work “navigates the margins of wonder and simplicity to spark the imagination and maybe a smile or two,” Hoke said in a statement. (Angus M. Thuermer Jr./WyoFile)
Loveeda White accompanied a delegation of Northern Arapaho tribal elders to Carlisle Pennsylvania for the exhumation of three Northern Arapaho boys’ remains in advance of returning them to the Wind River Indian Reservation. The boys died and were buried at the Carlisle Indian School more than 130 years ago. “I keep coming back to the ‘Unknowns,’” she said of the experience, “and how lonely they must be. Who are they? Who cares about them?” (The Content Lab LLC, and Producers Video Corporation)
(The Content Lab LLC, and Producers Video Corporation)
Wyoming’s iconic Squaretop Mountain lines up with the total solar eclipse in the Bridger Wilderness of the Wind River Range. A pair of lovers from Colorado added the pinprick of light in the center by briefly turning on a headlamp during totality. (Angus M. Thuermer Jr/wyoFile)
Wyoming Game and Fish Department biologist Gary Fralick weighs a newborn mule deer as part of a study discerning what impacts fawn survival in the Wyoming Range mule deer herd. (Mark Gocke/Wyoming Game and Fish Department)
Undocumented immigrants living in southeastern Wyoming place their hands on a picnic table for a photo. Several families and individuals agreed to speak with WyoFile under conditions of anonymity. Fears amongst the state’s undocumented community have risen since Trump’s election, as have the numbers of detentions and deportations. (Andrew Graham/WyoFile)
House Revenue Committee Chairman Mike Madden cocks a wary eye at a state fiscal analyst as he receives reports on the deficits in funding for Wyoming’s public education system during a June meeting of the Joint Revenue and Select School Finance Recalibration committees. (Andrew Graham/WyoFile)
Hunter Verde guides a raft through Lunch Counter rapid in the Snake River Canyon on Tuesday as the wave trough obscures many of the 14 persons on his craft. Flows in the river rose to 30,200 cfs measured just above Palisades Reservoir. (Petru Baraghin/Elevation Imaging/Float-O-Graphs)
Inside the bar of the Hotel Wolf in Saratoga, a model of the building sits next to a stuffed moose head. The Hotel Wolf was built by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s great-great grandfather. (Andrew Graham/WyoFile)
At the Crowbar & Grill in Laramie, patrons participate in the LiveandLetTutu pub crawl on April 28, protesting insensitive comments by U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi. He said a person who walks into a bar wearing a tutu “kind of asks for it.” (Eric J. Krszjzaniek)
In a scene repeated regularly across the Equality State, a cowboy rides herd during a seasonal drive, cutting a stoic figure in the morning cold. This cowboy is a Wyoming icon. Can you guess his identity? (Angus M. Thuermer Jr.)
Second Lt. Chris Davis, 321st Missile Squadron deputy missile combat crew commander, and 1st Lt. Paul Lee, 321st MS missile combat crew commander, simulate key turns of the Minuteman III weapon system during a Simulated Electronic Launch-Minuteman test April 11. The test at F. E. Warren Air Force Base had the two conduct the test in tandem with an associated launch control center in Nebraska. (Staff Sgt. Christopher Ruano/U.S. Air Force)
Maybelle patiently watches the hours-long final stage of the moonshining process — distillation. Fruit, grains, molasses or other sugary, starchy ingredients are mixed with water and yeast to form a “wort”, allowed to ferment for days, or weeks, then strained into a clean liquid “wash” prior to distillation. Hound dogs are optional, but strongly recommended. (Matthew Copeland/WyoFile)
Laurie Thoman, Mary Thoman, Kristy Wardell, Mickey Thoman, Fetch and Tippy posed for the last time at a corral along the Green River as they moved their sheep off four allotments last fall. The family is looking for other places to graze their flocks. (Mary Thoman)
Chris Peck, Stephanie Sweet and Renny Jackson ride the Jenny Lake loop road on Wednesday during motor-free season on the scenic byway. Grand Teton National Park officials plowed the road free of snow and will open it to vehicles May 1. (Angus M. Thuermer Jr./WyoFile)
Atop Rendezvous Mountain at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Olaf Koehler’s beard serves as a windsock as he prepares for a ski run. The valley kayaker, mountain biker and skier works on a ranch in Spring Gulch. (Chris Figenshau)
Yellowstone superintendent Dan Wenk shows Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke a dilapidated trailer at Mammoth during a tour of the world’s first national park Friday. Among the challenges the secretary faces is a Park Service maintenance backlog of $12 billion nationwide. (Department of the Interior)
A lone wolf stands out on the horizon near Bondurant in this photograph by Wyoming Game and Fish communication and information specialist Mark Gocke. He got this picture while on his way from his office in Jackson to Pinedale, which is part of his territory. (Mark Gocke/Wyoming Game and Fish)
In Natalie Lyon’s third grade class at John Colter Elementary school in Jackson on Monday, students discuss the theme of a story during a literature exercise. Lyon had an assistant who helped students learning English as a second language. (Angus M. Thuermer Jr/WyoFile)
Police grab MyKennah Lott as they prepare to arrest her for trespassing near the Oceti Sakowin camp near the Dakota Access Pipeline in January. “Little Wind” and her brother plan to march in Washington, D.C. on Friday, calling for clean water, among other things. (Valerie Saidman)
Greta Gretzinger’s paintings served as stand-ins for Wyoming’s absent congressional delegation at a February town hall meeting in Jackson. (Angus Thuermer/WyoFile)
Antelope on the Path of the Pronghorn near the Green River have a tough time if they don’t time their migration correctly. The Jackson Hole Land Trust says a deal for a new conservation easement on the Upper Green River more than offsets the effects a billionaire’s cabin — built on an older conservation easement — will have on the path. (John Fandek)
A group of friends enjoys warm water and an unseasonably warm evening in a hot spring on the edge of Thermopolis on Feb. 19 (Sophia Jensen)
(Sophia Jensen)
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Meredith June Edwards climbs on the Grand Teton. Edwards and her partners climbed the mountain twice in a day. (Jake Urban)
Really great pictures
A really pleasing set of images.
Well done – thoughtful and stimulating photography.