Wyoming

1Pedro Mountain Mummy On the record

Humanoid · Pedro Mountains, about 60 miles southwest of Casper, Carbon County · first reported June 1934 · also called San Pedro Mountains mummy

In June 1934, two gold prospectors blasting in the Pedro Mountains southwest of Casper said they broke into a small sealed cave and found a tiny mummy seated on a ledge. Only about six and a half inches tall seated, it looked like a little old man, and newspapers and sideshows made it a sensation. Many linked it to Shoshone stories of the Nimerigar, little people of the mountains. It passed from a Meeteetse drugstore to Casper businessman Ivan Goodman, who took it to New York around 1950; after he died it was never returned and is still lost. From X-rays, Dr. Harry Shapiro of the American Museum of Natural History and Dr. George Gill of the University of Wyoming concluded it was almost certainly an infant with anencephaly.

• June 1934On the record Prospectors, one of them Cecil Main, who signed an affidavit, reported finding the mummy in a sealed cave about two and a half feet above the floor. Source: wyohistory.org
• c. 1950On the record Owner Ivan Goodman brought it to New York for study; after his death it was never returned and has been missing since. Source: wyohistory.org
• early 1990sOn the record A rancher brought Dr. Gill a second small mummy said to have been found in the area in 1929; testing supported the anencephaly explanation. Source: wyohistory.org

2Nimerigar (Ninumbee) Told story

Humanoid · Wind River Canyon and Wind River country, Fremont and Hot Springs counties · first reported traditional · also called Ninumbee, Little People of Wind River

Eastern Shoshone tradition speaks of the Nimerigar or Ninumbee, little people of the mountains. Eastern Shoshone elder Reba Teran has described them as powerful beings about three feet tall who still live in the mountains, and Wind River Canyon was once known as the Little People's River. Later Wyoming retellings made them fierce little hunters with bows and poisoned arrows. Neighboring Arapaho, Sioux, Cheyenne and Crow traditions also tell of little people. The 1934 Pedro Mountain mummy was widely linked to these stories in the press. This entry stays with what has been shared publicly; these are living traditions.

3Shoshone Water Babies (Pa'ona) Told story

Water monster · Wind River region; springs, rivers and rock art sites such as Dinwoody · first reported traditional · also called Pa'ona, water ghost babies

Among Wind River Shoshone, water babies are spirit beings tied to springs, ponds and rivers. Ethnographer Robert H. Lowie recorded one as a water being heard crying at night, known by its sound rather than its appearance. In Wind River tradition they are connected with sacred rock art landscapes like the Dinwoody petroglyphs and are described as powerful spirit helpers associated with shamans and visions. They are part of a living belief system, not a monster story, and much about them is not for outsiders. This entry gives only the public outline.

4Jackalope Proven hoax

Beast · Douglas, Converse County · first reported 1934

The jackalope, a jackrabbit with deer antlers, is a cheerful, admitted invention. According to the City of Douglas, taxidermist brothers Ralph and Doug Herrick made the first one in 1934, setting a rabbit next to a pair of antlers as a joke. Roy Ball bought it for his LaBonte Hotel in Douglas, where it was displayed until it was stolen. Folklore credits jackalopes with mimicking human voices. Douglas calls itself the Jackalope Capital of the World, has an eight-foot jackalope statue downtown, and hands out hunting licenses good only on June 31 between midnight and 2 a.m.

• 1934Proven hoax The Herrick brothers mount a jackrabbit with antlers; the piece goes on display at the LaBonte Hotel. Source: cityofdouglas.org

Visiting: Jackalope statue, downtown Douglas; joke hunting licenses from the Douglas Chamber of Commerce.

5Platte River Ship of Death Told story

Other · North Platte River, Guernsey to Casper (Bessemer Bend) · first reported 1948 in print (set 1862-1903) · also called Death Ship of the Platte

Wyoming's strangest ghost story has a sailing ship on a prairie river. A frost-covered vessel rises out of fog on the North Platte, crewed by icy sailors around a body under a sheet. When the sheet is pulled back, the witness sees someone they know, who dies that same day. The tale names witnesses: scout Leon Webber in 1862, who saw his fiancée; rancher Gene Wilson in 1888, who saw his wife; and Victor Heibe at Bessemer Bend on Nov 20, 1903, who saw Tom Horn, hanged that day. The story first appeared in the first issue of Fate magazine in 1948 by Vincent Gaddis, citing a 'Cheyenne Bureau of Psychological Research' that researchers say never existed. Skeptics find no historical support.

• Sep 12, 1862 (as told)Told story Leon Webber sees the frosted ship six miles below today's Guernsey Dam with his fiancée's body on deck. Source: cowboystatedaily.com
• Nov 20, 1903 (as told)Told story Victor Heibe sees the ship at Bessemer Bend carrying the hanged Tom Horn, executed that same day. Source: cowboystatedaily.com

Visiting: Bessemer Bend on the North Platte, southwest of Casper.