News – Sheridan Media
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On Wednesay, April 8, The Sheridan Community Land Trust’s SCLT Explore History program featured local historian Cynde Georgen, who explored the darker side of early Sheridan County history.
Before her talk, History Program Manager Kevin Knapp discussed an upcoming event that SCLT is planning.
He also introduced Kaitlin Shaw, SCLT History and Outreach Assistant, who talked about a project she is undertaking, gathering oral histories from those residents who have worked on the land. This upcoming project will be addressed in another story on Sheridan Media.
Knapp then introduced the main speaker, Cindy Georgen, with her talk, “From Madness to Mayhem to Murders: Stories of Violent Death in Early Sheridan County.”
Georgen said in her research, she discovered there were at least 89 homicides that took place between 1879 and 1941 in what was, or would be, Sheridan County. She said she also ‘went down the rabbit hole,’ and expanded her research into Big Horn, Johnson, Washakie and Hot Springs Counties as well.
She talked about one murder that involved famous scout, Frank Grouard
Another murder took place near present-day Kaycee, when a member of the Butch Cassidy Gang, Harvey Logan, aka Kid Curry, killed Deputy Sheriff William Dean. Although several people knew that Logan committed the crime, no one would come forward to testify, fearing retribution from the outlaw, and he was never tried with the crime.
She talked about several other interesting murders in the area, including one where a woman went crazy and killed her husband and family.
This material will be included in a book, Murder Ends It All: Violent Death in North-Central Wyoming, 1877–1941. The book is written, and Georgen is currently looking to find a publisher.
She is the author of In the Shadow of the Bighorns: A History of Early Sheridan and the Goose Creek Valley of Northern Wyoming, has been researching true crime stories from north-central Wyoming for more than thirty years.
A large crowd attended the program.
This program will be held again on Tuesday, April 21 from 10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. at the Tongue River Valley Community Center (TRVCC), Dayton.
Learn more about Sheridan Community Land Trust go to SheridanCLT.org.
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Last modified: April 10, 2026