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Home of the Caught Dead in Wyoming series

Cottonwood County, Wyoming is east of Yellowstone Park, south of Montana, north of the Wind River, west of the Big Horn Mountains and found on no map you’ll find.

It has a slice of the Absaroka Mountains, a bit of the Snake River, plenty of range land, and a need for irrigation.

Its county seat is Sherman, which is less important than Cheyenne, smaller than Cody, less organized than Sheridan, and far less urbane than Jackson Hole.

It is also among the smallest broadcast TV markets in the United States, which makes KWMT-TV one of the last places Elizabeth “E.M.” Danniher expected to find herself.

Elizabeth on Cottonwood County

Elizabeth Margaret Danniher considers her new home in Cottonwood County, Wyoming
From SIGN OFF by P.A. McLinn …

In hopes of attracting Yellowstone or Grand Teton-bound tourists, Sherman’s Chamber of Commerce liked to say it sat at the foot of the Rockies. Only if the Rockies had very long feet.

But the location did let KWMT boast the largest broadcast area in the state. In fact, it was challenging Billings’ stations for a chunk of Montana.

A victory there might nudge it up a spot in the rough and tumble competition of the country’s Bottom 50 television markets.

At the moment, Sherman’s location east of the mountains offered another advantage; the mountains blocked less of this sunset than they would have if we’d been farther west. And as long as I wasn’t getting singed by the flames, I enjoyed hell-fire’s display.

As I pulled into the parking lot of the Sherman Supermarket, on the western fringe of downtown, it crossed my mind that it was a heck of a lot easier to sidestep the flames out here where the buffalo used to roam than where bulls and bears stampeded through Wall Street. Not only did the parking lot take up enough real estate to make Trump swoon, but each spot was sized for a limo . . . … or a pickup truck.

Welcome to Cottonwood County

Why Wyoming
Patricia McLinn, Caught Dead

Wyoming reader Dawn shared this poem her dad wrote and that she set up as a webpage with photos, and she’s given me the okay to share it with you all. Reminds me of wonderful places I’ve been … and all the places I haven’t gotten to yet. Can’t wait for my next trip.