great depression

Jackson Pollock’s Wyoming Links

Though born in Cody, Jackson Pollock soon moved away and never returned, and the state has never claimed him. But Pollock vigorously claimed Wyoming—this wild place. Risk was what he was all about—both in his life and in the revolutionary drips and swirls of his paint.

A Bank Robbery and its Mastermind

Lifelong criminal James Costin forged checks, passed them, stole money from his employers and coyote pelts from a ranch. In April 1933, though he only drove the getaway car, he masterminded a bank robbery in Green River. Later, he sued the men who tried to shake him down for the loot.

Booze, Cops, and Bootleggers: Enforcing Prohibition in Central Wyoming

The onset of Prohibition in 1919 not only didn’t stop drinking in Wyoming, it added new layers of lawlessness—bribery, corruption, murder. Enforcement officials had to battle crime in their own ranks, too. One high-profile federal case charged corruption at all levels in Casper, but the jury refused to convict.

Frank “Pinky” Ellis on the sheep business, small-town politics and family life

Frank "Pinky" Ellis of Casper, Wyo., born in 1929, was interviewed April 21, 2011 by Casper College student Emily Pearson at the Casper College Western History Center. In this interview, Mr. Ellis discusses growing up in Casper, his father’s journey from Ireland to Casper, life during the Depression, his father’s sheep operation, his own positions on the Casper City Council and Natrona County Public Library Board, life at Casper College and the University of Wyoming in the late 1940s, early childhood memories, family life and life’s lessons.

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