Busy Week continued (Friday-Sunday)

Friday, July 3, 2009

Ed, Roni and I left Green River in the morning to drive back to Riverton. On the way back we made a stop in South Pass City. This is a historical site that is viewed by over 14,000 people a year. It is Wyoming’s second oldest incorporated town. It was founded in the summer of 1868 when the gold rush was at its peak. This town was based upon mining and panning for gold. The area is still full of different claims where people are panning and digging for gold. Even Ed used to have two claims in this area where he searched for gold.

At one time South Pass City was up for being named the state capital. It's big bust came when the mine was closed forcing many move away. Today some still live in the town and the historical portion that was privately run for 20 years as a tourist attraction. It finally closed when it became too expensive to maintain the 24 century-old buildings. At its centennial in 1968 a group of South Pass Citizens banded together and bought the old structures and donated them to the public. Now these buildings and the land around them make up the South Pass City State Park. Here are some pictures of the site that I took while we wandered around.

The day didn’t end there though. That night we went to the big firework celebration in Lander where a one of the dentists in town puts on a big firework display for the town’s citizens every 3rd of July. (We thought this was going to be cancelled this year because that dentist and another were arrested in June for disturbing hydrocodone, a drug that is highly addictive. One was using the substance too. In the paper they said that the other doctor could be sentenced for 295 years in prison. The one that is putting on the firework show has been put on probation and he gets to keep his dentistry license so he’ll be in staying in society, just well watched.) This show was great because we had a truck that had great speakers in it. We tuned into the radio station where the dentist was Emcee'ing the event. They played a recording that described the U.S. history during the revolution when our country was just getting started, and the firework displays went along with the music and the storyline. The majority of the time the fireworks were shot in a way that made it look like a battle was going on, with lots of fireballs shot up into the air that made it very smoky.

July 4, 2009, Saturday

This was a great day filled with lots of activities. Ed’s sister Cynthia came with us to the parade in Lander. This was just like every other parade with lots of people dressed in 4th of July colors. We got there early so I had time to walk around,see the people, and take tons of pictures.

Lander has a very different atmosphere than Riverton. It is in a sense "more hippie", with more people riding their bikes, and a city park where people can camp for free (and it is well used). The city is designed so that water can flow under streets and it runs through ditches in some front and back yards, and a lot of people dress in loose fitting, flowing outfits. This is really hard for me to explain so I guess you will just have to experience it yourself.

The best part about the parade was the end when all of the different fire trucks came through. Fremont County is made up one of department with lots of divisions. So when the divisions come together what do you think happens?? There was a HUGE water fight. I mean the King of Water Fights. There were two trucks positioned on two side streets with one having its ladder extended and a hose ran up it so that it extended over the main street. They were both shooting water from their hoses that sprayed softly down on everyone and it was quite refreshing. Quite an ending. Here are pictures of the scene. Mom we have got to try this with our fire dept. at a parade!

Our next stop was a BBQ put on by the Rotary club. Roni's new boss is amazing. He is a Rotary Club member and he gave us tickets to the BBQ. We ate brats, beans, and potato salad. Luckily, we had finished eating by the time the rain started so we drove back to Riverton and stopped at the house just long enough for Cynthia to grab her car to meet a friend and the rest of us drove out to the 1838 Rendezvous site.

At the Rendezvous there was a lot that was happening, and I am sorry I left the camera because Jake was hilarious wearing a woven basket his daughter had bought on his head. He really did look Russian. We walked around the exhibits and took in the different events. We watched kids throw axes into raised stumps. I had Jake Korell - the 95 year old mountain man I spoke about earlier, serenade me in Spanish, German, English, and then with a harmonica. Roni and I even learned how to make rope. One man at the rope making class kept asking me to let him cut off a patch of my hair so he could make a beautiful rope. Actually, many were commenting on how beautiful my hair was and how nice a rope would be! While I was not inclined to donate my hair, I am aching to get some material to try out my rope making skills.

That night ended with weather warnings every 10-20 minutes about how there was going to be a hailstorm in Riverton. The weatherman predicted hail the size of softballs, half dollars, quarters. Well it did hit and even though the hail was only the size of peas, it had the wind backing it up and it made for a very rough storm. The street was filled with water and the hail made it look like winter. Here are some pictures that I took during the storm.

Busy week continued- Sunday-Thursday

June 28, 2009, Sunday

I went to church with Ed and noted that this is one of the only times he doesn’t carry his phone with him. That afternoon at 1:15 pm there was an accident on Highway 28 near the South Pass rest area. An older man, by the name of Skinner, and his friend had ridden their motorcycles to Farson for ice cream and were returning to Lander when one was hit by a car driven by a college age student. As so often happens with motorcycle versus car crashes, the motorcyclist lost. The student told police that he had fallen asleep and woke up when the collision occurred. After investigating the scene police identified that the student’s car crossed the center line of the road and for that reason he broke the law and can be sent to jail for vehicular homicide. It is unknown what they are going to do right now but the key point in me telling this story is to warn all of you drivers ... Don’t drive when you are sleepy. It could ruin your life!

June 29, 2009 Monday
At 1 am there was a vehicular accident. It occurred near Lander so the Lander coroner staff responded and called Ed throughout the night with details and updates. This accident was a one car roll over. The key reason for the death was, just like the case on Saturday, a one vehicle rollover in which the individual inside was ejected because he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

June 30, 2009, Tuesday
We got our call at 7:50 am. and Ed and I drove with lights and siren to just north of Milford where there was a head-on collision between two trucks. Those that witnessed the crash described a lot of smoke and fire. The fire department and EMS had been at the scene before we got there and it was from them that we learned what had happened. This scene was very popular in the news so there are a lot of pictures of the accident.

July 1, 2009 Wednesday

Our call came at 4 am. We were sent to the Riverton hospital to investigate a death that had occurred. Chief Deputy Mark Stratmoen had been on vacation, having just returned today so he was called out early this morning to help Ed and I work the scene. This case was tough because it was so early in the morning that we didn’t have time to go back to sleep before going to work. Instead, the three of us went out to eat breakfast and then went right to the office for a full day of work.

While at the hospital Ed was called by the Natrona County Coroner letting him know that we had another case. The same time that the accident on Milford occurred on Tuesday, there was another head on collision in Ethete. This crash didn’t receive as much media attention and we weren’t called out on it because no one died at the scene. The call this morning was to advise Ed that the women from this accident, who had been life flighted to Casper, had passed away early this morning. This is one of the key points that people need to remember about the Coroner’s office. Unless there is a death the coroner is not called out to a scene. Consequently, we now have to go back to the accident scene, which has been released, to conduct our own investigation.

That afternoon we went to different offices trying to learn the background about that second head on collision. While in that area we went to a feast that was held in honor of one of the natural deaths that occurred over the weekend. (We were not called out to it because it was in a nursing home and the funeral director deputy coroners normally work these scenes and don’t call us unless there is something suspicious). The man that passed away was the uncle of Kim one of Ed’s deputy coroners. Kim had spent that day baking and the feast was amazing- especially the home made pumpkin pie. Ed and I were exhausted that whole day and when we got back to the house that night we took naps.


July 2 , 2009 Thursday

Ed, Roni and I took off to go to Green River for a Centennial celebration. This year is the hundredth year in which the Taliaferro’s ranch has been in operation. We drove to Green River and met my parents then together with my whole family, Tyler Reese, and the McAuslans, we drove to Manflat for the celebration. All of us had a really good time and Kayli, Adar, and Tyler were sad they had to leave about 5 to go to work that night. The rest of us stayed and danced the night away at the barn dance. Who knew the Taliaferro family had so many good and active dancers! Most barn dances have only the kids dancing but this one had everyone dancing. A really great time.


Thursday was also a noteworthy day because it was the first day that we didn’t have any calls. After 10 calls in 6 days we were more than ready for the break. There are a few key points to note after this week of excessive calls. First, there were 5 vehicular accidents and only one survivor. That one survivor was the only person that had his seatbelt on. Second, I’m repeating this I know but it is important ... Don’t drive when you are sleepy.

The busy week- Powwow

Monday, July 6, 2009

This whole week has been pretty hectic so forgive me for not having posted sooner but there really has not been any time to do so. What has been keeping us busy you may ask? Well let me tell you.

This all began Friday, July 3rd when we got a call that an older man had passed away in his house. He was found when his son showed up at the house to take his father see the doctor. I revisited this case again when later that afternoon Erin, Operations Deputy and the owner of a biological cleaning service that cleans houses and vehicles after a loved one has passed away, returned to the house to clean it. It is tough for family members to clean a room after a loved one has died in it. So Erin’s business helps with that problem and from the many scenes she has dealt with, she has learned a couple tricks, which she passed on to me when I worked as her tech assistant on this project. Erin told me that it is difficult for her to find tech assistants because she has to find individuals that can be around biological matter and, depending on the scene, bugs and decomposition smells. Not everyone likes to work under these conditions. It was quite an experience for me.

That night, Friday the 3rd of July still, we went to a Powwow for Shoshone Days. This was a fun event for me because we went with Ed’s sister Cynthia Hamilton, and she and I had a blast watching the activities together. At a Powwow, Native Americans from all over the USA gather together to dance. They dress up in elaborate traditional costumes made from buckskins, beads, eagle feathers and more. All of the dancers present for a Powwow enter the dancing area in the Grand Processional. In this procession the flags are carried by vets. Next the royalty made up of young women dressed in their buckskins with tiaras made out of buckskin, feathers and bead work describe who they are. Some even had buckskin sashes with bead work naming their title. The traditional women dancers follow the royalty. These women tend to be dressed in buckskins that also have bead work but it is not as elaborate as other dancers. Over their left arms the women carry buckskin purses decorated with beads of various designs. The women dance in a slower fashion making sure they don’t miss a beat.

The next set of dancers were traditional male dancers. These men dressed in buckskins with decoration similar to that of the traditional female dancers. They carried a war club and/or a spiritual stick in their hand that was usually decorated. Also on top of their heads they wore eagle feather headdresses.

Next came the Fancy Dancers, men that were dressed in shorter loin cloths with tights or short shorts underneath. I did see one man that did not have this underneath, and he was a bit more revealing. They were all elaborately dressed with lots of colors and decorations, including big bells around their ankles to help make more noise.

Jangle Dress Dancers are women dressed in skirts that have bells sewn on them that make a lot of noise like the Fancy Dancers’ bells. These skirts tend to have 365 bells on them representing the 365 days of the year. Some of these jangle dress dancers are also shawl dancers and carry cloth (and a few leather) shawls that were beautifully decorated with designs on the back that matched the rest of their outfit. These shawls tended to have longer fringes and when the shawl was swung around rapidly, the colors really caught your eye.

Grass dancers. These men were dressed in buckskins or cloth that was very colorful and had feathers on their heads and on their buttocks. Their outfits consisted of the loin cloths and leggings that were highly decorated with lots of colors and often fringes that caught the eye when the dancers moved fast and enthusiastically. They also carried coup sticks with them and as they moved it added even more to the commotion of their outfit.

One of the drawing points to get people to travel around the country dancing in these Pow Wows is that the dancers compete for great prizes. The categories are based on the different type of dances being performed and the age groups. Roni and Ed were telling me that this teenager they knew started dancing when he was 3 and by the time he had graduated from high school he had enough money saved up to go to college.

Saturday, July 4, 2009, Ed, Roni, Cindy, and I returned to the Powwow staying the afternoon and well into the night. In the afternoon there was a small rodeo which we went to for about an hour. Then we hurried over to grab seats for the Powwow. We had snow cones because it was hot and that night we had Indian tacos, which are always amazing! That evening I saw a man that had rows of small scars on his upper arm. These Roni told me were indicative of him performing a Sioux Sundance. The Sioux believe that the giving of flesh to the heavenly creator is sacred. After fasting for an extended period of time during their sundances, there is a ceremony where they cut small pieces of the upper arm away as offerings to the creator. I will be able to discuss sundances better later as I will be actually going to the Shoshoni Sundance later this week. Then I will be in a better position to explain what occurs at a sundance.

While we were at the Powwow there were two calls. One was in Lander with a single car rollover. The individual that passed away in this crash was a few years older than me. He did not have a seatbelt on and was ejected from the vehicle. The other call was in Riverton at the hospital where an older gentleman died from a heart condition. I was upset that we had missed the one in Riverton but Ed reminded me of the important lesson that all emergency responders learn- you can’t keep your life on hold waiting for a call.