The Wyoming Hall of Fame (WCHF) has announced the 25 inductees of the 2023 class. The nominees were voted on by the WCHF Board of Directors during their annual meeting on April 29th in Casper.
There are ten different regional committees in areas of Wyoming scored over 50 nominations and submitted the top selections to the WCHF Board of Directors, along with the State Board selecting several nominees.
The Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame Class of 2023 is as follows:
Region 1
Campbell County – Marion Scott, Gillette
Crook County – Wallace Canfield and Jeff Garman both from Sundance
Weston County – Julius Frederick Bock, Osage
Region 2
Platte County – Larry D. Cundall, Glendo
Region 3
Albany County – Shirley Dawn Wright Lilley, Laramie
Region 4
None
Region 5
Johnson County – George K. Fraker, and Carl Knudson both from Buffalo
Sheridan County – Woodrow Wilson Moreland, Big Horn
Region 6
Bighorn County – Stan and Mary Flitner, Greybull
Park County – Lewis Clifton “Sonny” Bennion Sr., Meeteetse and
Simeon Leon Thayer, Cody
Washakie County – Gary Vernon Rice, Tensleep
Region 7
Carbon County – Charles L. Vyvey, Encampment
Sweetwater County – Gary Zakotnik, Eden
William J. “Bill” Thoman, Green River
Region 8
Hot Springs County – Ross Rhodes, Thermopolis
Fremont County – Donald Sheer, Dubois
Region 9
Lincoln County – Ray C. Fritz., LaBarge
Uinta County – C. B. Hamilton and Richard Henry Hamilton (family nomination), Fort Bridger
Region 10
Sublette County – William Patrick Dew, Pinedale,
Carl and Bud Jorgensen, Pinedale
Dru and Tawny Roberts, Daniel
Teton County – Tom Breen, Jackson
Mike Taylor, Wilson
According to the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame website, the purposes of the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame are exclusively historical, cultural, literary and educational. WCHF’s chief goal is: “To preserve, promote, perpetuate, publish and document Wyoming’s working cowboy and ranching history through researching, profiling and honoring individuals who broke the first trails and introduced that culture to this state. WCHF plans to collect, display and preserve the stories, and photos of such individuals and anything else that will honor and highlight their contributions to our history.”
The induction ceremony will be held on September 15th and 16th at the Ramkota Hotel in Casper, Wyoming and is open to the public. This annual event is apart of the Wyoming Cowboy & Cowgirl Legacy Week, which was established in 2019 by the Wyoming State Legislature.
