Wyoming Trivia (Renamed) (Gillette, Buffalo, Medicine Bow: steaks, abandoned, boundaries)

[Ann the Artist]

Perhaps a clue is due ~ like Guernsey, Wyoming.

[CptnRn]

What I found was this:

Guernsey, Wyoming, Ghost Sightings The ghost of an elderly gold digger with a sizeable mustache and a wooden right leg was seen at Guernsey Dam on a dark night talking into the thin air. Several people in the neighborhood have had equivalent events with a similar ghost.

[Ann the Artist]

By now I think any ghostly sightings near Guernsey are a correct answer! Here is what I had read about The Death Ship of the Platte River" when I first posted:

http://www.guernsey.govoffice2.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={816268EB-F791-4C2C-A3E7-FD20CB4EF381}

Your turn CapnRn!

[Ann the Artist]

I'm not certain why that didn't come through as a link. Trying once again:

http://www.guernsey.govoffice2.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={816268EB-F791-4C2C-A3E7-FD20CB4EF381}

It really is a very interesting read!

Edited to say: Well, rats. It still didn't come through so following is a copy & paste of the article:

THE DEATH SHIP OF THE PLATTE RIVER....
file:///C:/Users/Ann/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot.png (broken link)

[SIZE=4]On the Platte River between Torrington and Alcova, Wyoming , a legend persists that a “Ship of Death” continues to sail upon the sometimes dangerous waters. The phantom ship is said to rise out of a strange mist that quickly becomes a massive rolling ball of fog. As the ship grows closer, witnesses report that its sails and masts are covered with frost. Upon its deck stands the crew, also covered with frost, and huddled around a corpse lying on a canvas sheet. The legend continues that the ship always foreshadows the death of someone who will die on the day that it is spotted. As the crew steps back, the identity of the corpse is revealed as a person known by the witness.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]The first alleged sighting was made in 1862 by a trapper named Leon Weber. When the crew stepped back, the corpse revealed the body of Weber’s fiancé who died later on that same day. Another sighting of the phantom ship was made by cattleman, Gene Wilson in 1887, when he saw


the body of his wife laid out on the canvas. In 1903, another tale describes that when Victor Heibe was chopping down a tree on his riverfront property, he spied the ship. Laid out on the deck was the body of a close friend.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]Every case was reported in the late fall, and in all cases, the person seen upon the deck of the phantom ship died on the very same day. One of the sighting allededly occurred six miles Southeast of the Town of Guernsey, near Casper, Wyoming. Another sighting was said to have occurred at Bassemer Bend on the Platte River. [/SIZE]

[CptnRn]

That is a much more interesting story then what I found. If you would like to pose another question, have at it. Otherwise I have one I can offer up.

[CptnRn]

Since we have not heard back from Ann, and in order to keep things interesting. I'm going to go a head and post the next question.

WEALTH IN WYOMING:

You might be surprised to learn, as I was that about 1% of Wyoming's population are millionaires. 5,000+ total based on 2004 figures. Wyoming was 1 of only 6 states that had 1% or more of it's population as millionaires. Clearly these folks are benefiting hugely by the lack of a Wyoming State Income Tax, and the rest of us get to shoulder their share of the burden.

Cite: Free By 50: Number of Millionaires by State

TWO of the 400 Richest Americans live in Wyoming. Who are they and how did they get so rich?

[WyoNewk]

Christy Walton and family, Wal-Mart inheritance

Leandro Rizzuto, Conair


I don't know that I'm shouldering any millionaire's share of the burden, however. I don't pay state income tax either, and I like it that way. Are you suggesting that, because they happen to live in Wyoming they should contribute to my property tax? Sales tax? I don't get it.

[Ann the Artist]

Thank you for taking the ball and running with it CptnRn. This packing up and all the preparations for the move is becoming all consuming! Not too much computer time!

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by WyoNewk

Christy Walton and family, Wal-Mart inheritance

Leandro Rizzuto, Conair

I don't know that I'm shouldering any millionaire's share of the burden, however. I don't pay state income tax either, and I like it that way. Are you suggesting that, because they happen to live in Wyoming they should contribute to my property tax? Sales tax? I don't get it.

We don't have state income tax here either and I also prefer that. But clearly the pay-off is much larger for someone who makes millions every year, as opposed to most of us who just get by.

You got the basic information correct, even though your answer was pretty thin on information. Your turn WyoNewk.

Here is more complete information on the answer:

Cite: The 400 Richest Americans -- State is Wyoming sorted by Rank - Forbes.com

#355 Leandro Rizzuto
NET WORTH $1.4 billion
SOURCE Manufacturing, Self made
AGE 70
MARITAL STATUS Divorced, 4 children, 1 divorce
HOMETOWN Sheridan, WY, United States
EDUCATION St John's University - NY, Drop Out

College dropout founded Conair hair dryer outfit with parents in 1959. Turned $100 investment and hot-air roller invention into cash cow through rapid growth, iconic pistol-shape blow dryer design. Product line now includes razors, mirrors, fabric steamers, massagers, Interplak Oral Care. June 2009: Recession or not, Conair Corp., a company well-known for its hair dryers, is still going strong. The firm, which the late Julian Rizzuto launched in 1959 in his Brooklyn, N.Y., basement as Continental Hair Products with $100 and the help of his son, Leandro, has grown to 4,200 employees in more than 100 countries with sales exceeding $2 billion last year. Leandro Rizzuto, 73, the company's former president and chief executive officer, acts as a consultant to the firm after serving three years in prison for tax fraud


#6 Christy Walton & family
NET WORTH $23.2 billion
SOURCE Wal-Mart Stores (quote: WMT), Retailing, Inherited
AGE 53
MARITAL STATUS Widowed, 1 child
HOMETOWN Jackson, WY, United States

Daughter-in-law of Wal-Mart pioneer Sam Walton (d. 1992) and siblings reclaim spot in Forbes 400 Top 10 after falling off last year. Wal-Mart shares up 45% since last September, as cash-strapped consumers head to discount-driven superstores in droves. Also profiting from stake in solar-paneling outfit First Solar; shares up 120% in past 12 months. Sam started as J.C. Penney clerk in 1940; opened Newport, Ark. five-and-dime store Benjamin Franklin 5 years later. Lost lease in 1950. With brother James started general-store chain in Bentonville, Ark., 1962. Today Wal-Mart is world's largest retailer: 7,300 stores, 2 million employees serve 200 million customers. Sales: $378 billion. Christy is the widow of John Walton (d. 2005); donated 7-acre San Diego home to Cross Border Philanthropy

[WyoNewk]

Thank you, CptnRn. Interesting stuff that I hadn't found in my search.

Next question:

Fires have literally reshaped Wyoming's landscape for millions of years. Historically speaking, what effect did fires have on Lake DeSmet near Buffalo?