Saturday, May 11, 2013

Blowing in the Wyoming Wind: Cattle Kate could’ve told Meg what was coming

I always look forward to Rodger McDaniel's Saturday posts on Blowing in the Wyoming Wind. They also used to appear in our local paper, but since I don't get the paper any more I can neither confirm or deny their appearance on the op-ed pages. Rodger is part of our ragtag band of progressive bloggers in southeast Wyoming. I guess I shouldn't call Rodger ragtag, as he has plenty of creds as an attorney, minister, historian, author and one-time head of the state's mental health and substance abuse division. But anyone who blatantly proclaims a liberal stance in conservative Wyoming exists on the fringe.

This morning, Rodger blogged about two Wyoming women who were the subject of lynch mobs. Ellen Watson, also known as "Cattle Kate," had the temerity to challenge the cattle barons in 1885 Wyoming Territory. She was physically lynched. Meg Lanker-Simons has had the temerity to challenge UW and Wyoming's powers-that-be, most of whom happen to be conservatives. Now she's getting lynched on-line. Go read Rodger's post here.

Meg graduates from the University of Wyoming today. Congratulations, Meg. We keep urging her to write a book. Maybe she will, although law school figures in her immediate plans. Once she gets law school out of the way and publishes her book, I hope she keeps us in mind for the book-signing tour. Laramie should be her first stop.

UPDATE: Rodger's column is in today's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (I sneaked a look at a copy at my friend D's house). It's on the op-ed pages in the sports section and is headlined "UW choosing to hang before the facts are in."

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