Many locals will remember getting their hunting licenses in the little brick Game & Fish building on north Cache Street. County records tell us it was built in 1956. Apparently, the Wyoming Department of Transportation was the first state agency to call it home as one local has told me they remember getting their Driver's License there many moons ago. But the Wyoming Game and Fish Department called it home for several decades until they were able to scrape enough money together to build their current building just a stone's throw up Cache Street to the north in 2002. Well, a couple weeks ago the little brick building finally came down, with a lot of fond memories.

When I arrived in April of 1995, my little office space was carved out upstairs amidst several others and without any air-conditioning I remember cracking a bead many a summer's day, even in this high-elevation mountain town. I'm told that back in the day the upstairs served as a barracks for traveling Game and Fish employees, hence the shower at the top of the stairs. Above my head hung a splintered propeller from an old department snow plane. I was told the story behind it was that someone fired it up in the shop one day and the prop caught a nearby chain hoist and that was that. Surprisingly, there were no human casualties, but it must've been quite the event!

I also remember the time a cantankerous old cow elk took up residence outside the front door of the old office. The elk wouldn't leave and even charged a few people despite efforts to haze it away (photo below). The poor elk clearly had a sizable absess in it's cheek and was likely unable to eat anymore. Game Warden Doug Crawford decided to put it out of its misery right there beside the office, which is possibly why it had shown up at the Game and Fish office in the first place.

There are many other stories of course, but I'll save them for another time over a cold beverage. And if any of you have a story you'd like to share about the little brick building, I'd love to hear it!