Wyoming
Candy Moulton: New Trails and New Stories
Except for my computer and my camera (and of course the electricity to charge them), I could be comfortable living in an earlier period – say about a hundred years before I was actually born. In my half a century of writing about Wyoming, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to experience a taste of that time.
First with Jason Goodman, a teenager from northern Wyoming, and later with Morris Carter and his four teenage daughters, and then with Ben Kern, I have ridden more miles in a wagon as a working journalist than any other in my generation. When I add up the miles, I might even have more wagon road time than Mark Twain who is best known for his classic book, “Roughing It.”
On my first wagon adventures as part of the Wyoming Centennial Wagon Train, and subsequent journeys on the Oregon, Mormon, and California trails for their sesquicentennials, I slept in a tent – rain or shine, wind, cold, or stifling heat.
I’ve also slept in the two-room log cabin that was my grandmother’s homestead house. I have quite unsuccessfully tried to bake a pie in a wood stove in that cabin, but rather marvelously have celebrated the Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve with four generations of my family in those old hand-hewn walls.
The cabin originally stood on the ranch where I was reared, outside of Encampment. Nearly 20 years ago, we moved it to our property just up the road. By then the cabin was in rough shape and it took a lot of time, dedication, and just plain hard work to restore it. Full disclosure here, my husband Steve did most of the work; my sister, brother-in-law, a handful of other relatives, and I helped.
When my grandmother arrived in Wyoming in March of 1903 and moved into that two-room cabin her first husband had built, she must have believed her life in the American West would be better than what she would have found in her homeland.
Certainly, they had more land on his homestead than they could have imagined in Bruges and the surrounding countryside of northern Belgium, where she had been born and lived. Peter Verplancke, her first husband, had been the first of the Belgian immigrants to claim land along Antelope Creek, in southern Wyoming. He was on the Wyoming land by 1893. Other homesteaders already lived in the area.
Peter grubbed sagebrush so he could begin raising hay and grain. With neighbors he hand-dug irrigation ditches and built reservoirs to store water. In 1903, when Emma came with him to the homestead southeast of the then booming town of Grand Encampment, she was twenty-one years old. She had skills honed in her native land that would serve her well: she knew how to raise a garden and turn cabbage into kraut. She could make Belgian bobbin lace, or render a hog. She could kill and dress chickens, or make a dress for her daughters.
Even though her life on the homestead began forty years after the first homestead was claimed in America, she faced some of the same issues as earlier settlers: isolation, hard work, and in her case, difficulty understanding the language of her new home.
For my grandmother, the American Homestead Act provided opportunity just as it did for 1.6 million other people who claimed more than 270 million acres in the West.
Her life was not easy. She had five young children when she lost her first husband, Peter, in an accident with a wagon and team. But quite fortunately for me, she married my grandfather and then they had seven more children. The youngest was my dad.
My sister, brother, and I grew up on the homestead, living next door to our grandparents and one aunt and uncle with their two daughters.
Sundays, however, the ranch was the gathering place as dozens of aunts, uncles, and cousins converged. There was always food, music, and what I liked best: storytelling.
My only regret about those great and wonderful times is that I didn’t start writing earlier.
These days writing is both my work and my hobby. I tried retiring a couple of times and it didn’t take. So here I am, off on a new trail and a new adventure. I hope you’ll join me as we explore Wyoming and the American West.
Candy Moulton can be reached at: Candy.I.Moulton@gmail.com
The 2026 Wyoming High School boys’ soccer season is close to its finish. Only three weeks remain. 4A teams will conclude the regular season, as they jockey for positions going into next week’s regional tournaments. Meanwhile, 3A schools have this week and next week left in the regular season. They are trying to reach the top four of the league standings, as those are the teams that qualify for the state tournament in two weeks.
WYOPREPS WEEK 8 BOYS SOCCER SCHEDULE 2026
Three matches this week feature ranked opponents squaring off. Sheridan will host Thunder Basin on Friday. In 3A on Saturday, top-ranked Cody is at No. 5 Mountain View, and four-rated Torrington goes to No. 2 Buffalo. Just like the ladies, you have some rivalry matches on the schedule with Rock Springs-Green River, Jackson-Star Valley, and Thunder Basin-Campbell County. Wednesday will bring new soccer rankings. This is the boys’ schedule for Week 8. Schedules are subject to change.
TUESDAY, MAY 5:
CLASS 4A
Final Score: #2 Sheridan 2 Campbell County 1 (conference match)
Final Score: Riverton 3 Natrona County 1 (conference match)
CLASS 3A
Pinedale at Rawlins – postponed to May 11 – changed to May 9 for boys’ match only!
WEDNESDAY, MAY 6:
CLASS 4A
Laramie at Cheyenne Central – postponed to May 9
Cheyenne South at Cheyenne East – postponed to May 9
Read More Soccer News from WyoPreps
WyoPreps Boys Soccer Standings on 5-4-26
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Nominate a Boys Soccer Player for WyoPreps Athlete of the Week
WyoPreps Week 6 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Coaches & Media Soccer Polls 4-22-26
WyoPreps Boys Soccer Standings on 4-20-26
WyoPreps Week 5 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Coaches & Media Soccer Polls 4-15-26
WyoPreps Week 4 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Week 3 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Week 2 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Week 1 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
THURSDAY, MAY 7:
CLASS 4A
Final Score: #1 Jackson 8 Star Valley 2 (conference match)
Final Score: #4 Thunder Basin 3 Campbell County 1 (conference match)
Final Score: Rock Springs 2 #5 Green River 1 (conference match)
FRIDAY, MAY 8:
CLASS 4A
Final Score: Cheyenne Central 6 Cheyenne South 0 (conference match)
Final Score: #2 Sheridan 3 #4 Thunder Basin 1 (conference match)
Final Score: #2 Kelly Walsh 6 Riverton 0 (conference match)
Final Score: Laramie 3 Cheyenne East 1 (conference match)
Final Score: Evanston 2 Natrona County 2 – TIE (conference match) – Red Devils scored with 1 second left for the draw.
CLASS 3A
Final Score: #4 Worland 1 Rawlins 0 (conference match) – Kobe Bradshaw scored the GW goal on a PK in the 1st half.
Final Score: Douglas 2 Torrington 2 (conference match) – Shootout = Torrington wins 4-3!
Final Score: #1 Cody Lyman (conference match)
Final Score: #2 Lander 3 Pinedale 0 (conference match)
Final Score: Powell 1 #5 Mountain View 0 (conference match) – Gianrey Dallesandro with the GW-goal, assisted by Ethan Frame.
Final Score: #3 Buffalo 1 Newcastle 0 (conference match) – forfeit win for the Bison.
SATURDAY, MAY 9:
CLASS 4A
Laramie at Cheyenne Central, 11 a.m. (conference match)
Evanston at #2 Kelly Walsh, noon (conference match)
Cheyenne South at Cheyenne East, noon (conference match)
Riverton at Natrona County, noon (conference match)
Rock Springs at Star Valley, 1 p.m. (conference match)
CLASS 3A
Pinedale at Rawlins, 11 a.m.
#1 Cody at #5 Mountain View, noon (conference match)
Powell at Lyman, noon (conference match)
Torrington at #3 Buffalo, 2 p.m. (conference match)
#4 Worland at Douglas, 2 p.m. (conference match)
Final Score: Rawlins 1 Newcastle 0 (conference match) – forfeit win for the Outlaws.
Cheyenne Central vs. Cheyenne East HS Softball 2026
The Indians faced the rival Thunderbirds on April 15, 2026
Gallery Credit: David Settle, WyoPreps.com
James Forest Mothersbaugh Jr.: 1953 – 2025
James “Jim” Forest Mothersbaugh Jr. passed away on Saturday, December 6, 2025 at Central Wyoming Hospice in Casper, Wyoming, from complications of Multiple System Atrophy. He is survived by his wife, Becky Mothersbaugh; his sons, James Forest Mothersbaugh III and Blair Mothersbaugh; and Blair’s fiancée, Kelsey Baron.
Jim’s life was defined by music. He was a highly accomplished violinist, performing with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Puerto Rico, Wyoming Symphony Orchestra, and Savannah Symphony, among many others. He held degrees in violin performance, music education, and conducting from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut, with additional doctoral studies at the University of Iowa. He met his wife when they were both performing in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and passed his musical acumen to both of his sons. Jim taught orchestra and music theory to generations of students of all ages & abilities during his 28 years in the Natrona County School District. He conducted award-winning orchestras, taught students who went on to become professional musicians, and instilled a sense of purpose, character, and belief in both his students and colleagues that extended far beyond the stage. He was also an expert in the craft of re-hairing bows for string instruments, knew everything there is to know about The Beatles, and possessed a rare ability called synesthesia, which allowed him to see specific colors when hearing music. He leaves an extensive, enduring, and active legacy in the Wyoming musical community.
Jim will be immensely missed by his family, his friends, his colleagues, and his students. A celebration of life will take place at Backwards Distilling Company in Casper, Wyoming on June 28, 2026 from 2 to 5 p.m. Please RSVP at https://jimsmemorial.rsvpify.com/.
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