PODCAST: Wyoming History with Tom Rea

PODCAST: Wyoming History with Tom Rea

Moonshine was often made in remote spots in Natrona County. Aftermath of a police raid on a still, 1923. Casper College Western History Center.

Tom Rea lives in Casper. He's the editor and founder of WyoHistory.org, a project of the Wyoming Historical Society.

Rea has written three books:

I first learned about him after stumbling upon an article titled Booze, Cops, and Bootleggers, which looks at Casper during Prohibition. We get into the details a little bit more in the podcast episode.

As a history buff, I was delighted to get to talk to him.

Some of my other favorite articles he’s written are about Kit Carson and Buffalo Bill, but he’s also uncovered a lot of characters I’ve never heard of like Mathew Campfield, an African-American Union Army vet who worked as a barber and was elected coroner of Natrona County in the early 1890s.

We chat about the history of Casper and how the Salt Creek oilfield was once the largest producing oil field in the world.

He also tells me a tale about a Wyoming man named Thomas Twist. This and a story about two cowboys who love the same woman and one of them shoots the other. You'll have to listen to find out more about that one! You can listen here  for free or on Spotify below.

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Wyoming Mountaineers of Casper College Archival Collection

This collection was found unprocessed but was pieced together in stages over the course of a year, starting with the scrapbook and photo albums created by the WMCC. These items were found first and so were arranged and described at the collection level, and then as processing continued, the climbing vest and pitons were found, followed by various documents and articles written and published on the Mountaineers, all of which brought the collection together.

Highlights of the collection are the artifacts and documentation of the First Graduation Climb on Devils Tower in 1955, the 1956 Rappel off the side of the Casper Gladstone Hotel, and the climbs during the 50th Anniversary of Devils Tower. Documentation on the latter includes a feature in LIFE Magazine.
Filed Under: Wyoming History, Podcast