Wyoming
Wyoming’s Pioneering ‘Sheep Queen’ Faced Down Cattlemen And Mountain Lions
The woman who became known as Wyoming’s “Sheep Queen” understood the perils of the frontier.
She faced mountain lions, dealt with threats from cutthroat cattle ranchers, protected her children from perceived American Indian threats and went on to become one of the most successful ranchers in her day.
Lucy Morrison Moore knew how to live in a “man’s world,” taming a hardscrabble Wild West frontier while famously never putting up with any profanity.
“She was a force to be reckoned with. In a time when women weren’t really forward, she was living in a man’s world,” said Terri Geissinger, a descendant and researcher who is writing a book about Morrison and her family. “When we think about what she was faced with, with men fighting with their guns and reputations, they came up with the name ‘Sheep Queen.’”
It wasn’t meant to be a compliment, and while Morrison would’ve never chosen the nickname for herself, she owned it.
“She said at first it was probably kind of sarcastic, but she ended up wearing that crown,” Geissinger said.
California Start
The future Sheep Queen was born in 1857 in Pacer County, California. At age 5, she would ride a pack mule with her family from California to Illinois, and then to the Bannock and Virginia City area in Montana as gold was making a lucky few rich and a lot of dreamers miserable.
Her family moved to the Soda Springs area of what is now Idaho, where her father had a freighting business serving the gold fields. At 16, Lucy married Luther Morrison, who was 44 at the time. Morrison had traveled the Oregon Trail at 20, was well educated, had been a legislator for Idaho Territory and had a successful sheep operation.
“They were great friends. Luther had known her all of her life,” Geissinger said. “It worked, and they built a huge business and were very successful.”
The Morrison’s moved to Wyoming Territory in 1881 into South Pass City. They brought 2,000 sheep and were convinced to stay there for the winter because they had an infant daughter and two other small girls. By the end of the winter, they had survived, but had only 200 sheep left.
When spring came, they chose to move forward and spent the next few years grazing their sheep through the interior of what is now Wyoming. Their range included the south the Casper area and Thermopolis to the north, and eventually Luther built a cabin at the base of Copper Mountain about 1884.
Morrison was an expert with a broad axe, and the cabin survives. It’s now in Cody as part of Old Trail Town.
Alone On The Frontier
During the early years on the range with their sheep, Luther would go to Rawlins twice a year for supplies. Lucy would be left alone with her children, three girls and a boy.
Geissinger said that during these times, Lucy afraid of encounters with tribal members, and when she saw them coming, she would dot their faces with flour and have them lie down in the tent. When the natives arrived at the camp, she would tell them, “small pox.”
But there’s only so many times a family can have small pox in the 1880s and survive.
“She did it one time too many and the kids are back up playing and doing their thing and the Indians came back around and said to her in English, ‘Smart woman,’” Geissinger said. “And then they never bothered her again. That was one of her stories.”
On another occasion with Luther gone, she was faced with a mountain lion “who nearly got her” and killed many of her sheep one night, Geissinger said. The weapon available was too heavy for her to shoot, so she ground up glass and put the shards in the sheep carcasses.
Her tactic was successful.
“That mountain lion was dead within a few days,” Geissinger said.
As the Morrisons built up their herds, mainly for wool, prosperity followed.
Luther had built a stone ranch that featured the first reservoir in Wyoming outside of Casper. That feat is mentioned on his gravestone. He also became a commissioner for Natrona County and the couple would build one of the first homes in the city.
Opposition
Prosperity also brought opposition from Wyoming’s cattlemen.
Lucy preferred to live out with the sheep on the sheep wagon built for her by Luther. During the range war years, they were not immune to threats.
On one occasion, she returned from a trip to Thermopolis and discovered that all of her horses had been shot. The Natrona County Tribune on Sept. 23, 1897, stated she was offering a reward.
“She had quite a few entanglements and she was afraid for her life,” Geissinger said. “I have a letter from her thinking that she is going to end up like another sheep owner who was killed. They served beef in their camp because they did not want any kinds of accusations that they were stealing cows. They were pretty straightforward.”
Faith For The Family
Even though sheepherding kept the family out on the range for much of the year, Geissinger said Lucy paid attention to education and to her faith. The children were taught to read and write, and when older were sent to private schools in Nebraska.
Biblical standards and Lucy’s Methodist ways were enforced inside the camp and business. No swearing, no drinking, and no abiding those who do.
Success meant the couple would also ship lambs back East, as well as shear their flocks. Geissinger said her research shows shortly before his death in 1898, Luther was involved in creating and leading a state wool growers association.
After his death Lucy, then 42, married a sheepherder, Curtis Moore, 39, in 1902. He had been in her employment. Before they married, she gave him a band of sheep, 1,000 head.
“The reason she said she married him was that he didn’t drink, he didn’t cuss, he was clean cut, and he had a family back where he came from,” Geissinger said. “She gave him the band of sheep because then she could say that she married a ‘stockman’ not a sheepherder.”
Moore kept the books for the business and would be beside her until she died.
-
Luther Curtis Morrison was a true pioneer in his own right, he traveled the Oregon Trail at 20, became an Idaho legislator, successful businessman, and served as a Natrona County commissioner. Lucy Morrison Moore the “sheep queen” of Wyoming left a legacy of success behind in her 75 years of life. (Courtesy Terri Geissinger) -
Lincoln and Lovisa Morrison, children of Luther and Lucy Morrison, work at shearing sheep. (Courtesy Terri Geissinger)
A Lot Of Groceries
In 1902, an ad dug out by Geissinger from a Natrona County newspaper shows Lucy ordered 16,000 pounds of groceries for her herders and company supplies from the general store in Casper.
In 1904, the Sheep Queen faced down more intimidation from cattlemen. In May that year, her 21-year-old son Lincoln was standing on a sheep wagon tongue near Kirby Creek and was shot in the stomach area.
She kept pouring the only antiseptic she had, vinegar, on his wound. He would heal.
“She ended up hiring Joe LeFors, a famous detective, to find the shooter,” Geissinger said. “They did apprehend that man, but it was 10 years later. He was found in Montana.”
As the new century moved on, Lucy Morrison Moore would continue to assert herself. The home she and Luther built in Casper would need to be moved for a post office. She negotiated the terms.
There were trips to Europe with her children, but she would always return to her sheep.
Geissinger said when automobiles started arriving in the region, Lucy was an early buyer.
“She got a brand-new car, probably from Casper. The first thing she did was there were a couple of lambs that needed help, and she put them in the back seat,” Geissinger said. “And her son gave her a hard time about it … and she turned to him and said, ‘The sheep paid for this car, they can dang well ride in it.’”
‘Fighting Shepherdess’
Famous author and later Cody newspaper publisher Caroline Lockhart spent a summer in the sheep camp with Lucy and her family in 1919. That experience stirred her imagination to write a fiction book that became a best-seller titled “The Fighting Shepherdess.”
“When Lucy read the book, she hated it because it’s just was kind of about a grumpy woman on a sheep ranch defending herself against the cattlemen,” Geissinger said. “So, it is kind of based on her, but it is not her. It kind of shot her reputation up.”
In 1920, MGM Studios made a movie based on the book, but it didn’t do well, Geissinger said.
Lucy and her husband would buy property in the Los Angeles area to spend the winters, and she owned other property across the state. But one bad winter, Geissinger said the Moores returned to take care of the sheep.
At her death Sept. 24, 1932, at her daughter Elma Butler’s home in Casper, the “Sheep Queen” was remembered as a Wyoming pioneer.
“Mrs. Lucy L. Moore, Pioneer Wyoming Resident, Succombs,” reads the Casper Tribune Herald headline on Sept. 25, 1932. A few days before her death, the same paper reported, “Mrs. Lucy L. Moore, known as Wyoming’s sheep queen, is in critical condition at the home of her daughter …”
Geissinger said her great-great-great-grandmother’s legacy includes her faith, love of family and love for her sheep.
“What stands out is her dedication to taking care of her animals and to them taking care of her,” she said. “She was very God-fearing, and she loved the open land.”
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at: Dale@CowboyStateDaily.com
-
The cabin built by Luther Morrison at the base of Copper Mountain still stands in Cody, Wyoming, at its Old Trail Town. (Courtesy Terri Geissinger) -
The interior of the Morrison cabin building depicts what home was like for a pioneering Wyoming family. (Courtesy Terri Geissinger) -
The 78th National High School Finals Rodeo (NHSFR) starts on Sunday, July 19, in Lincoln, Nebraska, and goes through Saturday, July 25, 2026. There are 12 rodeo performances across the seven days, with six in the first round and six in the second round. The top 20 cowboys and cowgirls return to the championship short round at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 25. Wyoming has 51 contestants competing across the 13 rodeo events, plus light rifle and trap shooting.
WYOMING RODEO ATHLETES OPEN COMPETITION AT NHSFR
Yoder’s Hadley Thompson was the All-Around Cowgirl at the 2025 NHSFR. She won national titles in the breakaway roping and goat last year in Rock Springs. Wyoming finished 11th in the team standings last year with 3,750.00 team points. The Cowboy State’s girls placed sixth, and the boys were 25th. Thompson also had the AQHA Horse of the Year for Cowgirls in CD Smokin Miss Kitty. Emeree Tavegie was sixth in pole bending.
The daily rodeo performances are at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. The first go ends after Wednesday morning’s performance, while the second go ends after Saturday morning’s performance.
Wyoming State High School Finals Rodeo Results & NHSFR Qualifiers 2026
Wyoming’s contestants and events with their draw
Ryley Alameda – Reined Cow Horse (Mon AM, Thurs PM)
Wade Asay – Reined Cow Horse (Tues PM, Wed AM)
Claire Bilek – Girls Cutting (Mon AM, Fri PM)
Kolton Bonenberger – Bull Riding (Mon PM, Fri AM)
Jace Bowles – Team Roping (Mon AM, Fri PM)
Cooper Brownlee – Shooting Rifle and Shooting Trap
Blue Butler – Breakaway Roping (Mon AM, Fri PM); Goat Tying (Wed AM, Wed PM)
Kolbe Chant – Tie-Down Roping (Sun PM, Sat AM)
Heston Crozier – Shooting Trap
Blake Cushman – Pole Bending (Sun PM, Sat AM)
Karly Davis – Barrel Racing (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Teague Duncan – Saddle Bronc (Tues PM, Thurs AM)
Memphis Erdman – Shooting Rifle
Hays Espenscheid – Team Roping (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Kendrie Ewing – Barrel Racing (Wed AM, Wed PM)
Ellie Feathers – Shooting Rifle
Kashley Fornstrom – Barrel Racing (Tues PM, Thurs AM)
Kade Fraley – Saddle Bronc (Mon PM, Fri AM)
Landon Gold – Team Roping (Sun PM, Sat AM); Steer Wrestling (Wed AM, Wed PM)
Teague Goodman – Steer Wrestling (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Tanner Griemsman – Team Roping (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Cody Hayden – Boys Cutting (Mon AM, Fri PM)
Rhame Hicks – Goat Tying (Sun PM, Sat AM)
Stone Hooten – Shooting Trap
Coe Hornbuckle – Barrel Racing (Wed AM, Wed PM)
Carter Hutchison – Steer Wrestling (Tues PM, Thurs AM); Tie-Down Roping (Sun PM, Sat AM); Reined Cow Horse (Mon AM, Thurs AM)
Kress Johnson – Team Roping (Mon AM, Fri PM)
Taylor Kimzey – Shooting Rifle
Emma Martin – Pole Bending (Mon PM, Fri AM)
Bella Martinson – Breakaway Roping (Mon PM, Fri AM)
Anna McQueeney – Girls Cutting (Sun PM, Sat AM)
Raden Miller – Steer Wrestling (Mon AM, Fri PM)
Taten Mills – Team Roping (Mon PM, Fri AM)
Owen Monfeldt – Bull Riding (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Ashtyn Noland – Reined Cow Horse (Mon PM, Thurs AM)
Keon Norris – Bareback Riding (Tues PM, Thurs AM)
Riggin Pearce – Bull Riding (Tues PM, Thurs AM)
Bridger Peil – Tie-Down Roping (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Karly Peterson – Girls Cutting (Mon PM, Fri AM)
Nathan Peterson – Boys Cutting (Tues PM, Thurs AM)
Trenton Rogers – Bareback Riding (Wed AM, Wed PM)
Rickie Jo Rourke – Goat Tying (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Tuf Scarborough – Saddle Bronc (Sun PM, Sat AM)
Ty Scarborough – Saddle Bronc (Wed AM, Wed PM)
Stetson St. Clair – Bull Riding (Wed AM, Wed PM); Team Roping (Sun PM, Sat AM)
Whitney Tarver – Team Roping (Mon PM, Fri AM)
Emeree Tavegie – Pole Bending (Mon AM, Fri PM)
Dylan Thar – Breakaway Roping (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Hadley Thompson – Breakaway Roping (Mon AM, Fri PM); Pole Bending (Tues PM, Thurs AM); Goat Tying (Wed AM, Wed PM)
Cruz Viles – Team Roping (Mon AM, Fri PM)
Tuf Weber – Shooting Trap
The Light Rifle competition is on Tuesday, July 21, and the Short Go is on Wednesday, July 22 at 1:30 p.m. The Trap Shooting competition is on Thursday, July 23, and the Short Go is on Friday, July 24 at 8 a.m. The Reined Cow Horse event will start on Monday, July 20, and go through Thursday, July 23, each day at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. The Reined Cow Horse Championship Short Go is on Friday at 4 p.m. The Cutting Events start on Sunday at 7 p.m., then will run at 9 a.m. from Monday through Friday. The 12th Cutting performance is Saturday, July 25 at 8 a.m. The Cutting Championship Short Go is on Saturday at 2 p.m.
National High School Finals Rodeo
National High School Finals Rodeo
Gallery Credit: Dakota Riddle Photography
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — As the Aug. 18 primary election approaches, Cap City News is introducing candidate questionnaires to help voters make informed decisions at the ballot box.
Every candidate in the primary field was sent the same three questions and given a limit of 500 words, which could be distributed among their answers as they saw fit. To ensure a fair and direct line to the community, all responses are published exactly as submitted, without edits or alterations.
Candidates were asked:
- What are the most crucial challenges your constituents are facing?
- If elected, how will you address these challenges?
- What qualities or qualifications do you possess that have prepared you to meet these challenges?
Questionnaires are being published on a rolling basis online through Aug. 11. They will be accessible via the Cap City News Election Tracker.
Jessica Crowder (R), Wyoming House District 43
What are the most crucial challenges your constituents are facing?
Wyoming is built on hard work, strong communities, and the responsible use of our natural resources. The families in House District 43 and Wyoming face real challenges — from the need for a more resilient, diverse economy to the increasing outmigration of young people. Wyoming families also face rising costs of healthcare, housing and more. House District 43 deserves a representative that puts people first and works to strengthen the place we call home through steady and thoughtful leadership.
If elected, how will you address these challenges?
As a legislator, I will use my experience working with landowners, businesses, and local governments to support the industries that define Wyoming while encouraging thoughtful growth and diversification. Our future depends on good jobs, strong schools, and communities where families can put down roots and thrive. We can honor the values that make Wyoming what it is while building something that lasts—an economy that works for working people, an education system that prepares the next generation, and communities that remain resilient and connected.
The rising cost of healthcare and the difficulty of accessing services are real challenges for Wyoming families. We need reforms that reduce costs, expand access—including to mental health resources—and meet people where they are. The 2026 Health Insurance Affordability Task Force is working to address rising costs, and I will work with this group and others to develop effective solutions that deliver the quality care our communities deserve.
Tax and housing reforms must be reviewed for possible refinement so people can afford to buy homes, stay in their homes, and build equity and pride of place. At the same time, every Wyoming county depends on a different mix of revenue, and we all rely on stable, predictable local funding for essential services. I will participate in honest, informed conversations about how to provide relief to those who need it most without jeopardizing essential services.
Wyoming’s economy depends on our core industries and new businesses that invest here. Both need clear, consistent processes and regulations so they have confidence in choosing Wyoming. Economic growth also relies on strong infrastructure and a skilled workforce. When these pieces work together—predictable regulations, reliable infrastructure, workforce readiness, and responsible budgeting—they create a stable environment that encourages growth, provides good jobs, and protects taxpayers.
What qualities/qualifications do you possess that have prepared you to meet these challenges?
I believe we maintain and create opportunity by respecting the people who live here and the land that sustains us. I grew up on a ranch and now raise my family in Laramie County, where we run a ranch and small business, so I understand the challenges facing families, landowners, and employers. With over 20 years of experience in agriculture, land management, and public policy, I’ve supported working lands, defended local interests, and strengthened communities. The values that guide this work—practical problem solving, respect for local knowledge, and a commitment to community—have broad application beyond land management and would serve me well in the legislature.
Related
-
Los Angeles, Ca32 minutes agoArrest made in deadly shooting at 4th of July gathering in Compton; search for 2nd suspect continues
-
Detroit, MI56 minutes agoDetroit crime hits decades-low as Michigan governor candidates debate how to keep progress going
-
San Francisco, CA1 hour agoOperator of boat that capsized near Alcatraz mourns brother as search continues
-
Dallas, TX1 hour agoMavericks vs Thunder Game Preview and Injury Update
-
Miami, FL1 hour agoMiami Dolphins Fans Vs. The Media
-
Boston, MA1 hour agoMan who allegedly shot at Boston Police officers arrested after foot chase in Dorchester
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoSwan, dragon and duck boats are back pedaling around City Park
-
Seattle, WA2 hours agoTicket Alert: Thundercat, Michelle Branch, and More Seattle Events Going On Sale This Week – The Stranger
