Cowboys honored in Hall of Fame
A quote attributed to Art Williams reads, “I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy. I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it,” and the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame (WCHF) board of directors found the statement to be true as they selected their 2018 inductees the weekend of May 12.
The 501(c)(3) WCHF was formed for exclusively historical, cultural, literary and educational purposes. Their chief goal is “to preserve, promote, perpetuate, publish and document Wyoming’s rich working cowboy and ranching history through researching, profiling and honoring individuals who broke the first trails and introduced that culture to this state.”
WCHF plans to collect, display and preserve the stories, photos and artifacts of such individuals and anything else that will honor and highlight their contributions to our history.
Pursuing that goal, WCHF’s major ongoing project is to memorialize each honoree through a video interview.
As that project comes to fruition, visitors to wyomingcowboyhalloffame.com can enjoy, in their own words, many of the life experiences – good, bad and ugly – through which the 186 men and women already honored there have carved their individual niches across the Cowboy State. Along with photos and biographies of every class inducted since 2014, there are currently 40 video interviews of those still living, and this year, WCHF will pursue videos of some of the deceased honorees as recalled and related by their descendants. Preserving these unique, personalized histories costs $500 each, and WCHF has committed to record another 50 this year.
In the Wyoming cowboy tradition of helping our neighbors, WCHF invites and encourages Wyomingites to contribute toward the preservation of this priceless living history. People can visit the Support Page on the WCHF website, or mail contributions designated for the video project to Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame, 16550 Highway 220, Casper, WY 82604.
The Class of 2018, who will be honored in an induction ceremony in September includes numerous men and women from around the state.
This year’s inductees include John “Mexican John” Marroquin and Clark Leroy “Clarkie” Reynolds of Campbell County, Gene Griffis and Harold “Smitty” Smith from Crook County and John “Charley” Borgialli and Oley Darlington from Weston County.
From Niobrara County, Kenny “KB” Ballard, Stewart “Sturdy” Sides, Jr. and Jesse York will be inducted, along with Richard Duane “Dick” Jarrard of Platte County and Afton D. “Babe” Green, Jr. and William C. “Chuck” Wilkinson of Goshen County.
Albany County inductees include Lawrence Atkinson, Francis “Bud” Orton, Donald “Donny” Robbins and Wales Wenburg.
From Converse County, John “Jack” Fitzhugh and Mike Henry will be inducted. Natrona County inductees include the “B.B.” Brooks and McCleary Family, inducted as one. This family will include “B.B.” Brooks, Mary Naomi (Willard) Brooks, Lena Natrona (Brooks) McCleary, Marion Wilson “Mike” McCleary and Bryant Bascum “Cactus” McCleary.
Harry Harriman (H.H.) “Jim” Price and Frank Shepperson will also be inducted from Natrona County.
Bernard “Bear Tracks” Betz of Johnson County will be inducted, and, from Sheridan County, Charlie “Chaz” Cook and Carl Johnson will join the ranks of the WCHF.
Curtis “Ray” Hammond, Frank Lee Martinez and Morris McCarty will be recognized from Park County, and Washakie County”s Louis “Louie” Rankine will be inducted into the WCHF.
From Carbon County, Leland Ward “Buck” Alameda, Eldon “Pete” McKee and Raymond “Ray” Waliser will be inducted, and Mary A. “Mickey” Thoman of Sweetwater County will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Stanley “Henry” Pennoyer, Charles “Charlie” Shaffer and John Norman Wallingford of Hot Springs County and John E. “Jack” Brodie, Lonnie “Nav” Mantle and Albert Jerome “Stub” Farlow of Fremont County will also be inducted.
Lincoln County’s Charles Powers “Charley” Noble and Ronald “Ron” Stoltenberg, as well as Uinta County’s Harold Harvey, and Joe Hickey will be recognized in the Class of 2018. From Sublette County, Joseph “Joe” Black Chrisman, Sidney Ross “Sid” Skiver and Elbert and Hazel Walker will be recognized. Teton County cowboys Earl Hardeman and Donald K. “Bill” Scott will also be inducted into the WCHF.
The WCHF Induction Ceremony will be held at the Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center and the Casper Events Center Sept. 22-23.
Visit facebook.com/WyomingCowboyHallOfFame for more information and updates.
