Wyoming Trivia (Renamed) (Cheyenne, Laramie, Gillette: maintenance, jobs, contract)

[AlisonA]

Originally Posted by AlisonA

Sorry everyone, for some reason, I'm no longer getting email notification of new posts, so I didn't realize I was on deck. I'll try to fix that, but meanwhile, here we go:

Jim Gatchell was known as "The Medicine Man" to many Native Americans who traveled to Buffalo to see him and talk with him. Many of them gave him interesting artifacts from Indian culture, from the wars, etc.

One day, Jim showed some of his Native friends a religious artifact that had been given to him by another Native. They were horrified because this particular item was never supposed to be without it's companion of the opposite color. But they were so respectful of him that instead of asking for the item back, they quietly arranged to give him the complementary artifact. Both are now on display in the Jim Gatchell museum in Buffalo.

What was that religious artifact?

Ready, set.... GO!!

Now I am wondering if this is too obscure... I read about this in the display at the museum, but an online search didn't reveal anything about it. So I will ask a companion question, the answer to which is available online:

What artifact in the Jim Gatchell museum has confounded researchers as to its origin?

Answer one of the two questions and you will be up!

[Rescue3]

Somehow, Jim got ahold of a steel bow that is probably about 150 years old. The index card he maintained for each item in his collection indicates it was found in what is now known as Upper Prairie Dog Creek, in northern Sheridan county.

Problem is, no Indians in the area were known to use steel bows, though the design is comparable to Indian bows used in the 1800s. So nobody can figure out how he got it.

[AlisonA]

Originally Posted by Rescue3

Somehow, Jim got ahold of a steel bow that is probably about 150 years old. The index card he maintained for each item in his collection indicates it was found in what is now known as Upper Prairie Dog Creek, in northern Sheridan county.

Problem is, no Indians in the area were known to use steel bows, though the design is comparable to Indian bows used in the 1800s. So nobody can figure out how he got it.

Rescue3, you nailed it! Next question, please!

[Rescue3]

Thank you - on my next trip through Buffalo I've GOT to stop at that museum...

My question is, what is the origin of the phrase 'bots sots,' and what did it have to do with rodeo here in Wyoming?

[AlisonA]

I found the answer online but am going to give it time for someone else to chime in. Very interesting stuff, Rescue3!

[Rescue3]

Hint #1:

It has nothing to do with the rocks I'm going to finish spreading today, or the accompanying sore back I will have tomorrow.

It is actually a Crow Indian phrase.

[Wm Jas]

"Bots Sots" - Crow translation means "the very best".

One use of the word was the name of the early rodeos in Sheridan, literally "The Bots Sots Rodeo".

From Tom Ringley's book titled "Rodeo Time", in a poem titled "Rodeo Time in Sheridan Wyo", which prefaced the Acknowledgments.

Tom continues to refer to the "Bots Sots Rodeo" and the "Bots Sots Stampede" throughout the book.

[Rescue3]

Points to you, Wm Jas:

The Bots Sots Stampede was the name adopted by the Sheridan rodeo in 1943. The Sheridan Rodeo was started up in 1931 and ran until the war exhausted it in 1941. In 1943, its organizers renamed it the "Bots Sots Stampede," a name which stuck until 1951. It was based on three annual rodeos dating back to 1914 to 1916 called the Sheridan Stampede, but which were based on significant Crow participation. In 1951 its name reverted to the Sheridan Wyo Rodeo, but Indian Relay Races were continued on.

Literally translated, 'bots sots' in Crow means 'heap good' or 'very good,' depending on what generation is doing the translating. The idea was to make a 'very good' stampede to take our minds off WWII.

(Kudos to Alison who did the research...)

Wm Jas: You are up!

[Wm Jas]

I defer to anyone who has a question they have been wanting to ask.

[Rescue3]

Let's see... I'm dog sitting a crippled dog this weekend, so I have time to play. An easy one:

Greybull has an airport with an interesting collection of defunct aircraft parked on the ramps and outfield. What commonality exists between all these aircraft?