LIAM CLIMBS THE ROCK

INDEPENDENCE ROCK

THE GREAT RECORD OF THE DESERT

LIAM AND HIS GRANDPA

AUGUST 2013

THE SIGN 

AN ARTIST'S VIEW OF INDEPENDENCE ROCK

INDEPENDENCE ROCK
2013

HERE IS 6 YEAR OLD LIAM JAMES WILLIAMSON MAKING HIS WAY TO THE TRAIL THAT LEADS TO THE TOP OF THE ROCK

 WE CHOSE THE BACK SIDE OF THE ROCK TO MAKE OUR ASCENT.

A SHORT REST AS HE REACHES THE TOP. SOME OF THE
 NAMES SCRIBED BY THE PIONEERS LONG AGO. 

 HERE IS THE BASE OF THE OLD FLAG POLE THAT WAS SET MANY YEARS AGO. THE POLE ITSELF WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING AND MELTED.

LIAM POINTS OVER YONDER TO THE DIRECTION CIVILIZED PEOPLE.

Kayaking, Cooking and Dinosaurs at Cottonwood

An Early Fall Outing at Alcova 

Heading toward Fremont Canyon  from cottonwood beach

 A great day to be on the water. We do not often see a calm day in the 60's in late October

 Ahead is Fremont Canyon.It was here that Col J.C. Fremont and his Expedition of 1843 rode the rapids down the canyon in rubber boats and lost most of hi scientific plant Specimens and survey equipment. I Kayaked up to the point on the left and decided it was a good place to turn around

The water was really blue heading back. It must have something to do with direction of the sun. 

The cut in the rocks is part of the original Platte River course 

Coming back into Cottonwood Beach

After going ashore, I loaded up the kayak and headed up hill to a good place to cook up a little lunch 

 I fired up the Coleman butane stove and the little Triangia alcohol burner.

Freeze dried chicken cubes were added to the pot for a little filler. My cousin is a distibutor for Thrive foods and they have a great selection of long term storage foods. Good stuff and it beats throwing jerky in the pot 

My lunch spot was next to the Dinosaur TrailheadNatrona County is fortunate to have evidence of life from tens of millions of years ago right in our own backyard. The Cottonwood Creek Dinosaur Trail at Alcova is a fascinating glimpse of how Wyoming may have looked during the late Triassic and early Jurassic periods. Managed by the Bureau of Reclamation, this site about 30 miles from Casper features interpretive signage explaining the geological evolution of the region, as well as some amazing dinosaur fossils discovered in recent years and still in their natural setting.

We have hiked up there for many years on weekend outings with friends and have many fond memories of the area. I think we were not at all surprised when the news came out  twenty years ago that a dinosaur was discovered here. We had been picking up fossils and looking for  arrowheads up there for years

 I still have not seen the Dinosaur tracks and bones that everyone talks about but here is some clam fossils.

                             Thee is a nice view of the Pedro Mountains and the surrounding area.
Actually the view is magnificent in all directions

Some of the early locals left their mark on the rocks below. I am currently researching D.K. Irvine and think he or his relatives had something to do with the Johnson County War.

I snapped this picture on my way back into town. It was jus one great day in Wyoming and I thank you all for letting me share it with you all

Liam's Trip to Wyoming Part I

 Liam's Trip to Casper 2013 Part I

In August of 2013 Liam met Grandma Stephens in Cheyenne and headed to Casper for hiis first solo trip  in Casper  with Grandma and Grandpa Stephens

After settling in and getting a good nights sleep we had an early breakfast and headed for Muddy Mountain.

Arriving at our trailhead, we found the raspberries were ripe and had a quick snack before heading up the trail.

 We loaded up our packs and headed out. We crossed,creeks meadows and dark rocky forests and the going was tough but Liam kept up and followed the thin winding trail into the wilderness.

We finally reached  the Wikiup

 Nice view of the valley below and the beaver ponds

 Liam rested up in the hammock while Grandpa fixed lunch

For lunch we had boiled jerky with Ramen Noodles. Liam said the noodles were REALLY good  but was hesitant about eating the jerky, so I explained that the jerky was what gave the noodles the gourmet flavor and he would need all that tasteful nutrition to make the trip back down the mountain. He realized that grandpa was right about that boiled jerky and it was pretty good. 

After lunch we posed for a group picture

One last look at the valley and we headed back to town

I never remember to wipe the chocolate before pictures

We took a back road down and  found the Mother load of berry patches
so we ate all we could and gathered some for Grandma.



The End 
Part I

The Road to the Little People

In October 1932, while digging for gold in the Pedro mountains, Carbon County, Wyoming, two prospectors, Cecil Mayne and Frank Carr, blasted their way through some thick rock that a large vein of gold continued into. When the dust settled, they saw they had opened up a small room, approximately 4 ft tall, 4 ft wide, and about 15 ft deep. This is where they claimed that they first saw the mummy of a tiny person. 

The mummy ended up in Meeteetse, Wyoming, at a local drug store where it was shown as an attraction for several years before it was bought by Ivan T. Goodman, a Casper, Wyoming businessman. A July 7, 1979, article in the Casper Star-Tribune stated that Goodman died in 1950 and the mummy was passed on to Leonard Wadler, a New York businessman.^[7] The mummy has not been seen in public since Wadler, who died in the 1980s, took possession of it. The mummy’s whereabouts are currently unknown.-Wikipedia

I first heard of the Pedro Mountain Little Man about two weeks after I moved to Wyoming in 1973. I worked on a survey crew that summer with a History teacher named Ray Houser from Casper. He had spent quite a few years gathering information on the Little Guy. He was investigating some leads in the Kansas City area at the time of his death.

Through the years, I met two other people that had seen the Little Man. 

              A Trip to the Pedro Mountains of Wyoming

 The Pedro Mountains lie in a remote part of Central Wyoming near the backwaters of Pathfinder Reservoir

Lots of rugged country in the foothills.  

     Here is the cabin that Cecil Mayne and Frank Car used when they  prospected in the Pedro Mountains. They worked a mine called the "Little Man  Mine," that is located about a half mile from the cabin                                                                   

 I made my way through the rocky terrain and noticed quite a few caves along the way. I examined several that showed sign of animal use. It is said that there are thousands of caves in the Pedros.

The view was quite spectacular from the top

I found this odd Elk shed.

Looking ahead, I could see movement on the hilltop ahead. 

Through my telephoto lens I could see that it was indeed two of the Little People peering down on me!

I believe that this could be the first photos taken of a tribe of Little People that still live high in the Pedro Mountains of Wyoming. Remembering what the Shoshone say about provoking the Nimergar, I figured my canteen was nearly empty and I best head back