Nestled in the Snowy Range Mountains sits a quiet mountain chapel.
With stunning views of the range and the Centennial Valley, St. Alban’s Chapel near Little Brooklyn Lake draws outdoor enthusiasts, engaged couples and parishioners of St. Matthew’s Cathedral to the site year after year.
“It’s this little chapel on a hill, but it overlooks the big vast valley,” said photographer Rick Osborne. “It’s just beautiful.”
One-of-A-Kind Wedding Venue
Osborne and his wife Stephanie of Ardent Photography photograph at least two or three weddings at the chapel every summer. He said it’s one of the couple’s favorite places to capture ceremonies in the Snowies.
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“I think there’s not really anything that compares to St. Alban’s Chapel in that area,” Osborne said. “It’s unique in the fact that you can have your ceremony right there in the Snowies. You don’t have to bring in your own seating. It’s extremely affordable. And so I think that’s why it’s always so busy and booked out. It’s beautiful. It’s accommodating. It just kind of checks all those boxes.”
Sara Haugen decided St. Alban’s Chapel was the perfect spot for her mountain wedding after several hiking, camping and fly-fishing adventures in the Snowy Range with her future husband.
“I loved the idea of bringing our flatlander extended families into the mountains if they were already flying all the way to Wyoming,” she said. “My ceremony was July 13, 2013, and I’d say that’s about the earliest I’d recommend a wedding up there. Up until about a week before the wedding, there were still road drifts heading up to Little Brooklyn Lake. There are probably drifts up there right now that’ll be gone by next week.”
The morning of the ceremony the weather looked like it wasn’t going to cooperate, with black clouds hanging low over the peak. Haugen’s parents, who were there to set up early, were dealing with hail and rain around 11:30 a.m.
“Our ceremony was at 1 p.m., and by then it was sunny and blue skies opened up,” she said. “It was picture perfect, but I was mentally preparing to be soaked the whole time.”
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Haugen said it was a dream wedding. The wooden benches were just enough for her 85 guests. And a harpist set up under the cover of the chapel, something that had always been on her wish list since she was a little girl.
“The ceremony was just beautiful, and the wildflowers were popping,” she said. “We still go visit St. Alban’s each summer around our anniversary, now with our two kiddos.”
Created As A Memorial
St. Alban’s Chapel was built in 1940 as a memorial to Lutie Stone by her son, Dr. Ferdinand Fairfax Stone, according to an informational pamphlet from St. Matthew’s. It was consecrated in 1941 in dedication to St. Alban.
The chapel’s name harkens back across the Atlantic to the grand Anglican St. Alban’s Cathedral in Hertfordshire, England, and is named after the country’s first Christian martyr of 304 A.D.
The authentic log structure of the open-air chapel reflects the skill involved in its hand-hewn log construction. This traditional Scandinavian craftsmanship was commonly used by work crews for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps of the Great Depression.
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The chapel’s log walls shelter the simple, hand-hewn lodgepole cross within the open window. The altar beneath the cross reflects the CCC skill of stone masonry, using the variegated hues of granite up on The Ridge — bold rose, delicate pinks, turquoise and crystal white, literally bringing the mountain to the altar.
The granite rocks of the altar have an inscription referring to Psalm 121, “I will lift mine eyes up unto the hills.”
The congregation of St. Matthew’s Cathedral gathers at the spot every summer from July through August for worship and invites others to, “Come experience peace and God’s blessings at this quiet, mountain chapel on the Brooklyn Lake Road.”
Peaceful, Beautiful Place
When David Vernon proposed to his wife in 1988 using the scoreboard at the University of Wyoming, they considered the chapel as a potential wedding location.
“We had both spent time in the Snowies and really like St. Alban’s as a location,” he said. “But our wedding was scheduled for Memorial Day weekend in 1988, and we were actually worried about snow still being up there and having to drag my grandparents through that, so we got married at Ivinson Mansion instead.”
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However, St. Alban’s and Little Brooklyn Lake have always been beloved by the couple, and when they were last up there in July 2017 on a visit from their home in Illinois, the wildflowers were in full bloom.
“It was beautiful, but sadly we were surprised by how much pine beetle damage there was and how the trees were just so barren,” Vernon said. “It’s still a lovely place with a lovely view, and we miss the Snowies so much to this day. We’ll be back in southeastern Wyoming in September, and if we get up to the Snowies, we’ll definitely pay another visit to the little chapel on the hill.”
A few years ago Rose Brackett was also looking at possible wedding venues, and St. Alban’s was on her list. So she made a trip up in July 2022 and took a few photographs, which she shared on the Wyoming Through the Lens Facebook page.
“My then-fiancée and I had just gotten engaged, and I had been looking for unique wedding venues in the area, and I’d heard about that place, but I’d never been there, so I wanted to go and see what it was like in person,” she said.
She thought the location was perfect for a small ceremony with a rustic, Wyoming vibe. And while the couple didn’t end up getting married at the chapel because they decided to have the ceremony in October, she enjoyed being there so much she made a return trip later with her sister.
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“It’s just a peaceful site — just the little chapel, then the wildflowers and down a little bit further there’s a lake,” she said. “It’s off the beaten path just a little bit. It was just a gorgeous view.”
BILLINGS— Activists on both sides praised and criticized the Wyoming Supreme Court’s ruling of abortion bans as unconstitutional on Tuesday in a 4-1 majority.
The ruling marks the end of a four-year legal battle in Wyoming since the state’s 2022 abortion ban went in place with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned abortion rights on a federal level.
Watch for the report:
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Activists react after Wyoming high court rules abortion ban unconstitutional
The ban was put on hold after Wyoming’s only abortion clinic, Wellspring Health Access in Casper, led a suit against the state.
“I was holding my breath as I opened it and read it. But soon that turned to being rather elated. We couldn’t be more pleased with the opinion,” said Julie Burkhart, the clinic’s president.
Vanessa Willardson
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Julie Burkhart
The decision comes after a years-long fight and setbacks, including an arsonist who set the clinic on fire in May of 2022.
“We were set to open that next month, but unfortunately that arson set us back by 11 months. We weren’t able to open that until 2023. It was quite devastating,” said Burkhart.
“I don’t think it’s moral, ethical, appropriate for anyone to tell another person what they can or cannot do with their own body,” she added.
Wellspring Health Access
Wellspring Health Access after 2022 fire
For a Montana advocacy group, it was a different story.
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“I was very disappointed,” said Amy Seymour, president of Yellowstone Valley Christians for Life, an anti-abortion advocacy group.
“These pre-born children who are unique, complete, living, individual human beings from the moment of their conception, they can be protected if Wyoming decides to have a constitutional amendment to that degree,” she added.
Vanessa Willardson
Amy Seymour
Wyoming state Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, a Republican, echoed Seymour’s sentiments with a written statement.
“Today’s decision is an abomination. Four unelected justices thwarted the will of the people to establish a ‘right’ to kill an innocent baby. Thanks to these justices, Wyoming has some of the most radical abortion laws in America. I will not stand for that, and will continue fighting for innocent unborn babies,” said Neiman.
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Wyoming Supreme Court strikes down abortion bans, keeping procedure legal
GLENROCK, Wyo. — A 55-year-old Wyoming man died Monday night after his vehicle went over a bridge rail and caught fire on Interstate 25 near Glenrock.
Gavin Stanek was traveling north in a Cadillac Escalade around 9:13 p.m. when the vehicle drifted into the median near milepost 156, according to a Wyoming Highway Patrol report. The vehicle continued through the median until it struck a bridge retaining wall.
The driver’s side of the Escalade scraped along the rail before the vehicle went over the edge toward the river. The Cadillac rolled toward the passenger side and landed on its roof on the river embankment, where it was engulfed in flames, the report states.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol identified driver fatigue or the driver falling asleep as a possible contributing factor in the crash. Road conditions were dry and the weather was clear at the time of the incident.
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This story contains preliminary information as provided by the Wyoming Highway Patrol via the Wyoming Department of Transportation Fatal Crash Summary map. The agency advises that information may be subject to change.
As a plaintiff in the 2022 lawsuit that kicked off years of legal sparring over Wyoming abortion rights, Dr. Giovannina Anthony had waited a long time for Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision on the state’s abortion bans.
“It has been a long road,” she said. One with ups and downs, drawbacks and delays. And even though the high court ruled against the state’s abortion bans, she’s not under the illusion that the fight for abortion access is over.
“But at least today, we can claim a victory and say, it was really worth it,” said Anthony, a Jackson obstetrician. “It was worth it to go four years and keep it up and keep raising money and keep the awareness going. I’m really proud of our team. I’m really proud of what we accomplished.”
In reading the Supreme Court’s decision siding with plaintiffs, Anthony said, “Clearly, this is a court that holds a lot of respect for our constitution.”
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That’s because much of the decision hinged on constitutional language.
Anthony and other plaintiffs argued that abortion is enshrined in the “right of health care access” in Article 1, Section 38 of the Wyoming Constitution. The clause states, “Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions.”
The state’s attorneys, meanwhile, countered that abortion isn’t health care.
But in deciding what that language means in this case, “all five Wyoming Supreme Court justices agreed that the decision whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy is a woman’s own health care decision protected by Article 1, Section 38,” the court’s summary stated.
As abortion rights activists in Wyoming and beyond celebrated the decision, the anti-abortion camp decried it and called for legislative action.
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“This ruling is profoundly unfortunate and sadly serves to only prolong the ultimate proper resolution of this issue,” Gov. Mark Gordon said in a statement. While the ruling may settle a legal question for the time being, Gordon said, “it does not settle the moral one, nor does it reflect where many Wyoming citizens stand, including myself.”
Anti-abortion activists in the silent March for Life in Cheyenne in January 2020. (Nadav Soroker, Wyoming Tribune Eagle/Wyoming News Exchange)
Gordon asked the Attorney General’s office to file a petition for rehearing the decision, which it will file within 15 days.
The voters of Wyoming should settle the matter once and for all, Gordon argued. “A constitutional amendment taken to the people of Wyoming would trump any and all judicial decisions.”
He called on the Legislature to pass such an amendment during the upcoming session and deliver it to his desk. A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate to appear on the ballot in the following general election.
Gordon may get his wish during the Legislature’s 2026 budget session, which convenes Feb. 9.
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State lawmakers are already preparing a bill to modify the Wyoming Constitution and clear a path for another attempted abortion ban. Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, a Republican from Hulett, said that he’s been workshopping language with Torrington Republican Sen. Cheri Steinmetz.
“I’ve got to run it by a lot of other people,” Neiman said.
Reps. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams and Chip Neiman listen during a 2023 hearing on their request to defend Wyoming’s abortion ban. (Brad Boner/Jackson Hole News&Guide/Pool)
Ideally, he added, a single constitutional amendment would be considered, although the legislative strategy is still up for discussion.
“We’ve got a little over a month before we have to be in session,” Neiman said. “That’ll give us time to kind of see which is maybe the best plan of action.”
A constitutional amendment would have to navigate the legislative process in a 20-day session geared toward passing Wyoming’s budget. Then, in the 2026 general election, more than half of Wyoming voters who cast a ballot would have to agree to the constitutional change.
Neiman struck an optimistic tone about an amendment’s prospects of passing the first hurdle during the session in Cheyenne.
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“I can’t speak for the other chamber,” he said, “but in my chamber I’ve got a lot of phone calls and a lot of texts from a lot of my legislators who are just beside themselves at what happened.”
Senate President Bo Biteman did not return a phone call before this story published.
Victorious
Chelsea’s Fund, an organization that helps pay for abortion services, was another of the plaintiffs that challenged Wyoming’s abortion bans. Executive Director Janean Forsyth said Tuesday’s decision affirms what her organization has long known: “that abortion is essential health care, and Wyoming women have a constitutional right and the freedom to make their own health care decisions, and that should be without government interference.”
Forsyth was flooded with messages and calls Tuesday, she said, especially from the community of reproductive rights organizations.
“I think that [the news is] a beacon of hope for, not only Wyoming communities and families, but also nationwide,” she said.
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Christine Lichtenfels was Chelsea’s Fund executive director when the original suit was filed and throughout much of the legal battle. Relief wasn’t quite the word to describe how she felt Tuesday, she said.
“In reading the decision, there is just a sense that, ‘Oh, there is reason in the world,” she said. “It makes me think that, yes, Wyoming is the Equality State. We can say that now without cringing.”
(Disclosure: Lichtenfels is currently working with WyoFile on an unrelated legal matter.)
The Wellspring Health Access clinic in Casper is pictured in December 2022, and shows signs of May 2022 arson, including boarded up windows. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile)
Wyoming’s only abortion clinic, Wellspring Health Access in Casper, was also a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Knowing the decision would directly impact the facility’s fate, Clinic President Julie Burkhart was nervous when she opened it. Reading quickly dispelled her fears, she said, as it dawned on her that the justices sided with the plaintiffs’ legal team.
“We are delighted,” she told WyoFile.
Many people questioned her 2021 decision to open an abortion clinic in such a conservative state, she said. The court decision solidifies an intuition she felt back then about Wyoming residents’ sense of what’s fair and right.
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Burkhart and colleagues expect future challenges to arise, however.
“While we celebrate today’s ruling, we know that anti-abortion politicians will continue their push to restrict access to health care in Wyoming with new, harmful proposals in the state legislature,” Burkart said in a statement. “Patients should not have to live in fear that their health care decisions will be suddenly upended at the whim of a judge or lawmaker.”
Across the state in Jackson, Dr. Anthony anticipates the Wyoming Freedom Caucus will attempt to pass laws that impose targeted restrictions against abortion providers — such as forcing patients to hear a fetal heartbeat or wait a certain time period before the procedure.
“Unfortunately, the fight’s not over,” Anthony said, “but this is a great moment for us.”
Heartache
Abortion opponents expressed sadness Tuesday and vehemently disagreed with the court’s opinion.
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State Rep. Rachel Rodriguez Williams was lead sponsor of one of the abortion bans. The Cody Republican and chair of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus did not respond to a request for comment, but posted about the decision on X.
“My heart aches for Wyoming today,” Rodriguez Williams posted. “Thanks to the decision of four unelected, unchecked attorneys, it’s open season in Wyoming for innocent, preborn babies. Make no mistake: courts can get things wrong, and they sure did get this wrong. I’ll never stop fighting to protect life.”
Anti-abortion billboards can be seen along some Wyoming highways. (Tennessee Watson/WyoFile)
Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray also protested the decision, which he called “outrageously wrong” and “a leftwing activist decision totally out of touch with the Wyoming Constitution.”
Natrona County anti-abortion activist Bob Brechtel, a former Wyoming House member, also expressed frustration with the courts, criticizing the nearly two-year-long wait for a decision and saying he was “ashamed” of the outcome from the high court.
In 2011, Brechtel co-sponsored the bill authorizing a later-successful constitutional amendment ballot measure that now protects individuals’ rights to make their own health care decisions. Born out of opposition to the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, what became Article 1, Section 38 caused some lawmakers to worry about potential unintended consequences.
Fifteen years later, one unintended consequence came to fruition. Reached Tuesday, Brechtel confirmed that he did not intend to protect women’s right to have an abortion in Wyoming.
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“There was nothing in the legislation about killing innocent human beings,” he said. “This whole thing has been completely regenerated into something that it was never intended to be.”
