i
October 20, 2011 I The Lovell Chronicle I 13
Bragonier to
discuss book
about game
wardens
BY GIB MATHERS
Retired Game Warden
Dave Bragonier, of Powell,
will discuss his wild book
on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at the
Powell Branch Library.
The presentation, be-
ginning at 7 p.m., is free to
the public. Refreshments
will be served.
Bragonier is referring
to his 1999 book, "Wild
Journey: On the trail with
a Wyoming game warden in
Yellowstone Country."
"I'm going to mention
a little about some things I
was involved in," Bragonier
said.
The book chronicles
some of Bragonier's ad-
ventures in the backcoun-
try and at least one mis-
adventure by two of his
colleagues.
Although Bragonier
had been a Wyoming game
warden for years, he didn't
patrol places like the North
Fork of the Shoshone River
until the 1970s when he im-
mediately began investigat-
ing the shooting and aban-
doning of big game there.
At the time, he was the
only game warden in the
area. "The illegal hunting
activity had me running
ragged," Bragonier said in
his book.
A misadventure in the
extreme was the 1945 mur-
der of two game wardens
in the Sierra Madre Moun-
tains west of Saratoga by a
resentful poacher.
Bragonier had to rely
primarily on old newspaper
accounts to get the scoop.
No books were written de-
picting the murders.
Byron news
Memories of names, faces and places
E. DENNEY NEVILLE
548- 7829
nevilleart@tctwest.net
Between the two older build-
rags, one that used to be Dorothy's
store and west of it, Byron's old post
office and Matt Cozzens' gas station,
m a small vacant space. Its empti-
ness caught my attention and I im-
mediately thought of Charles Coz-
zens.
Years ago, his firecracker stand
occupied the empty space there. I
imagined the faces of young boys
leaning into the large opening at the
front of it, their eyes serious with
interest as they clutched in their
sweaty hands a few quarters and
some small change, nervously excit-
ed and poised to strike a deal with
the local business tycoon of things
pyrotechnic for overcoming bore-
dom.
Growing up in a small town like
Byron, names, faces and places be-
come links in a long chain of expe-
rience, and in a sudden moment
there, I heard from the past the loud
boom of a two-inch, Salute firecrack-
er, remembered the feel of the shock
wave and the smell of the smoky
odor drifting up from the dark hole
it blew in a muddy ditch bank.
Why did it suddenly seem sig-
nificant? The memory of it fixed in
a long chain of events that caused
me to suddenly recall a series of
mostly inconspicuous moments. A
loud boom, a smoky mud hole in
a ditch bank, a small empty lot, a
name and some faces. They just
showed up as if wanting to be sig-
nificant and important in the great
scheme of things. This suddenly
became important; the name, the
faces and the place of a less com-
plicated time brought a welcomed
smile to my face. I felt the cathar-
sis of nostalgia. It caused a smile
on my face and disengaged me for
a recuperative moment from the
tedious demands of aging, and the
second and third degree--powder
burns, leaving a prideful history of
scars essential for important educa-
tion, and old age braggadocio. Thus,
we did learn much from the experi-
ence of spending small fortunes on
noise and smoky mud holes that
now gives us a well-earned smile
when needed. Thanks, Chuck.
To look backward for a while is
to refresh the eye, to restore it, and
to render it the more fit for its prime
function of looking forward. Marga-
ret F. Barber
The Troll has been alerted that
the Byron bridge will be ready for
traffic in time for Halloween. He
has agreed to be less truculent with
the Halloween traffic that uses the
bridge this year, as long as the Three
Billy Goats Gruff don't try again to
annoy him with their "the next goat
is fatter" routine. The bridge should
be safe and sufficiently spooky for
this years "Hallowieners ."
On Halloween evening, the By-
ron Recreation Dept. will host a
Halloween activity in the Town
Complex and a trunk-or-treat in
the street in front of the town hall.
Drive carefully. Frankie will be on
duty.
COURTESY
Extreme Drilling Company recently drilled several new wells
near Byron. The well pictured above has a hole depth of 4,500 feet
and is located just north of the Byron Cemetery.
real time work of adding, with less
nimble fingers, more links to a long
chain of connected experiences.
Well, our local merchant of ex-
plosives went on to a higher degree
of learning, and now teaches at Val-
ley State College in Orem, Utah.
Those of us that made him wealthy
with our meager monies by pur-
chase of his pyrotechnic munitions
specific for noisy entertainment also
got a degree in our education--first,
Oil wealth was discovered in
Byron in 1906 ... and now again,
105 years later.
Extreme Drilling Company
moved its equipment into the By-
ron oil field a few months ago and
has drilled several new wells in the
surrounding area. The one in the
photograph, just north of the Byron
Cemetery, is a horizontal produc-
tion well with a hole depth of 4,500
feet. Three more production wells
at 5,000 feet have been drilled on
the Garland side of the Byron field.
There may be more wells drilled
next year. The old oilfield just
keeps on giving.
"There wasn't anything
written at all until I put it
together," he said.
Were lake trout ille-
gally introduced to Yellow-
stone Lake or were they
planted inadvertently?
Bragonier said lake
trout were introduced
to Yellowstone National
Park's Shoshone and Lewis
lakes in 1890. From there,
the fish could have reached
Jackson and Jenny lakes
and then the Snake River
to Heart Lake.
Streams feeding Heart
Lake are very near to the
Yellowstone River drainage
and it is conceivable that
an eagle, osprey, pelican or
other bird could have trans-
planted a lake trout to the
Yellowstone River drain-
age. Or a lake trout could
flop across the Continen-
tal Divide. "At %he Part-
ing of the Waters' on Two
Ocean Pass a fish can actu-
ally swim across the Conti-
nental Divide," Bragonier
wrote in his book.
Bragonier will also dis-
cuss his observations of
grizzly bear management
that gained momentum in
the mid 1970s.
Copies of his book will
be on sale that evening, but
the tough old game warden
won't be pocketing any of
the proceeds.
'Tm just going to do-
nate all that to the library,"
Bragonier said.
Bragonier was a Wyo-
ming Game and Fish De-
partment game warden
from 1958 to 1992.
get your copy of
J,00.luv00. !
.q at the courtesy
-':"' counter of
or have it delivered
via USPS with a
year-long subscription
by calling 548-2217
Cowley news
Area farmers are busy harvesting beets
DRUE TEBBS-MEEK
548-6901
The weather is cooperating for
the farmers so far this fall. The
beet farmers are working all day
and late into the night digging and
sending trucks to the factory in
Lovell. It is amazing to see that the
beets on both sides of the high-
way by the sugar factory are stack-
ing into mountainside heights. If
my memory is clear, last year the
weather turned the third week in
October and the big freeze occurred.
By this time last year the farm-
ers had their beets in. There was
such a wet spring this year that
sugar beets and corn, beans, etc.
were planted late. It has turned
cool but fortunately rain has not
spoiled the harvest. Last weekend
you could look toward Powell and
see the dust and dirt blowing in the
air as the workers were digging the
land. It was an awesome sight. Fall
can sometimes be the most glorious
season and it has been so.
The Cowley Recreation Dis-
trict took time to share some im-
portant bicycle safety rules by post-
ing a letter to parents of the Rocky
Mountain Elementary students in
Cowley. The Recreation District let-
ter listed 10 safety rules for riding
bicycles and asked that each child
from preschool to eighth grade par-
ticipate in the program. The child's
name is listed on the bottom of the
letter for a signature, the grade
he or she is in and the shirt size,
from small through extra large. A
parent's signature is required and
if parents have more than one child
in the family who qualifies, they
are asked to make a copy of the let-
ter or pick one up from the Town
Hall whose office hours are Mon-
day through Friday from 9 a.m. to
1 p.m.
For each child who participates
in the program, the Cowley Recre-
ation District is offering a free T-
shirt and a chance to win a new bi-
cycle. They will give out one new
bike for each grade. They ask that
the entry form be returned to Cow-
ley Recreation, Box 264, Cowley,
82420, by Nov. 1.
The letter also states that bike
riding is fun and healthy, but each
rider should be sure to follow the
basic safety rules while riding. It
also states that learning the rules
of the road is very important and
should be reviewed each year. They
also mention that more children go
to the hospital emergency room for
bicycle related crashes than for any
other sport and the Cowley Recre-
ation District wants all children
and adults to be safe and enjoy the
wonderful outdoors. Nothing in the
letter indicates when this function
will take place, but the school dis-
trict will be notified.
It was sad to say goodbye to
Jerry Tippetts of Lovell. People
from his age group can recall our
youth and a special program that
was held each year on the stage
of the church called "Amateur
Night." Most young people from
every age group from small chil-
dren to high school participated
and sang, acted, played an instru-
ment of some kind and enjoyed a
special evening with friends and
family.
One year when we were
about 13, twin brothers Jerry and
Gerry Tippetts appeared at our
amateur night to sing and play
their guitars. Wow, were the girls
impressed, and though their tal-
ent was excellent, what young
girls around that age noticed more
than anything was those handsome
dark, curly haired young men up
on that stage. Wow, what an excit-
ing introduction to Jerry and Ger-
ry Tippetts, those gallant shy boys
from Lovell who came to Cowley
one wonderful night.
We send sympathy and love to
Jerry's wife Loretta, his children,
grandchildren and all who loved
him and mourn him.
f)r. Paul LaVeau
Cardiologist
Seeing patients Monday thru Wednesday
..V . f To schedule an appointment,
Call Poweil Valley Clinic
Powell Valley
Healthcare 307-754-7257 or 1-888-284-9308
op ......... o°.,,,r .. 777 Avenue H • PoweR, Wyoming
$3000 It D
A $3000 reward is being offered for any
information leading to the arrest and
conviction of the person/persons responsible
We ore proud to offer
NORTH BIG HORN HOSPITAL CLINIC
1115 Lane 12 * Lovell, WY 82431
www.nbhh.com •
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