WCHF announces Class of 2025
On May 1, the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame (WCHF) State Board of Directors announced their selections for the WCHF Class of 2025.
The 23 inductees will be honored during the 12th Annual WCHF Induction Ceremony, scheduled for Sept. 16 and 27 at the Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center in Casper. The ceremony is open to the public.
WCHF Hall of Fame
According to the board’s May 1 press release, regional committees across 10 different areas of Wyoming researched and scored over 50 nominations, then sent their top picks to the WCHF State Board of Directors, which selected this year’s class.
“Formed for historical, cultural, literary and educational purposes, WCHF’s chief goal is to preserve, promote, perpetuate, publish and document Wyoming’s working cowboy and ranching history through researching, profiling and honoring individuals who broke the first trails and introduced the culture to this state,” reads the release.
“WCHF plans to collect, display and preserve the stories, photos and artifacts of such individuals and anything else which will honor and highlight their contributions to our history,” it continues.
Class of 2025
This year’s WCHF inductees include Campbell County’s Earl “Tut” Camblin of Gillette, Crook County’s Dave Graham of Moorcroft and Weston County’s Samuel “Sammy” Everett Sewell of Newcastle from Region One, as well as Niobrara County’s A.D. Flores Kruse of Lusk from Region Two.
Selected from Region Three was Albany County’s Jerry Martin Kennedy of Rock River and Laramie County’s Angus McPhee of Cheyenne, while Converse County’s Lee Moore of Douglas was the lone inductee from Region Four.
Two Johnson County residents – Wayne Graves and Sonny Jarrard, both of Kaycee – were joined by Sheridan County’s Dave Claredon of Banner as the Region Five inductees, with Washakie County’s Eldon Leithead of Worland and Big Horn County’s Kay Bischoff Hopkin of Lovell as the inductees selected from Region Six.
Inductees selected from Region Seven are Carbon County’s James Felix Johnson of Encampment, as well as Sweetwater County’s Orson Nathan Behunin and Christena Isabela Slagowski Behunin, both of Burntfork.
Three individuals were also selected from Region Eight, including two Fremont County residents – Jack C. Malmberg of Lander and John P. Finley of Dubois – and Hot Springs County’s Frank J. Rhodes of Cody.
While there were no individuals selected from Region Nine, Region 10 saw a large portion of this year’s WCHF Class of 2025 inductees, including five residents of Sublette County and one from Teton County.
These include Gerry Dean Endecott and Garland Swain of Pinedale, as well as Marvin Wardell, Jesse Earl Chase and Luke Algeroy Osterhout of Big Piney.
Rounding out the class and the six Region 10 inductees is Chris Feuz Young of Moran.
Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
