February 11

1805   Sacajawea gives birth to her first child, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau at Fort Mandan, in what is now North Dakota.

It has been claimed that Jean Baptiste lived until 1885 and is buried, along with Sacajawea, on the Wind River Reservation.  The evidence for this, however, is weak on both accounts.  The better evidence is that neither died in Wyoming, and that Jean Baptiste far outlived his mother, but that he died in 1866 due to a sudden illness, brought about by an accidental plunge into icy water, in Oregon.

1842   Texas marines mutinied aboard the schooner San Antonio.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1890   President Benjamin Harrison orders 11 million acres of Sioux Reservation, South Dakota, territory open for settlement. This leads the "Ghost Dance"  and ultimately Wounded Knee.

Note this same item was listed for yesterday so apparently there's some disagreement as to the date.

1904 President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed strict neutrality for the U.S. in the Russo-Japanese War.

1911   Governor Carey signed the "Direct Primary Law", which was part of a general movement towards such primaries throughout the United States.

1917  Commissioner of Labor authorized by legislature.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1917   The Sherdian Enterprise for February 11, 1917; Austrian officers dudes no more, U.S. reestablished diplomatic relations with Mexico.
 

I haven't put too many Sheridan Enterprise up here, but this one I had to because of the great headline about Austrian officers

Wow.  Austrian officers "cease to be dudes".

That probably doesn't quite read the same way now.

In other items, this issue also reported the war news and on the restoration of diplomatic relations with Mexico.  And again, a tragic automobile accident was reported.

Sunday State Leader for February 11, 1917. Diplomatic relations with Mexico restored.
 

Things were changing a bit in our relationship with Mexico, as this paper, and one more I'll put up from this date, shows.

Wyoming's National Guard was still  on the border, but the US was reestablishing relations with Mexico, recognizing the Constitutionalist as the legitimate government of the country.

Also in the news was the crisis with Germany, not surprisingly.  And the legislature was still in session.

Radicalism was popping up in Cuba.

Fatal automobile accident,s, a nearly constant news item of the early automobile era, were also in the news.

1918   Woodrow Wilson's Address to Congress of February 11, 1918.
 

Monday in 1918 was starting off on a serious note, as Monday so often does.  President Wilson addressed Congress regarding our enemies as the war.

Gentlemen of the Congress:

On the eighth of January I had the honor of addressing you on the objects of the war as our people conceive them. The Prime Minister of Great Britain had spoken in similar terms on the fifth of January. To these addresses the German Chancellor replied on the twenty-fourth and Count Czernin, for Austria, on the same day. It is gratifying to have our desire so promptly realized that all exchanges of views on this great matter should be made in the hearing of all the world.

Count Czernin's reply, which is directed chiefly to my own address of the eighth of January, is uttered in a very friendly tone. He finds in my statement a sufficiently encouraging approach to the views of his own Government to justify him in believing that it furnishes a basis for more detailed discussion of purposes by the two Governments. He is represented to have intimated that the views he was expressing had been communicated to me beforehand and that I was aware of them at the time he was uttering them; but in this I am sure he was misunderstood. I had received no intimation of what he intended to say. There was, of course no reason why he should communicate privately with me. I am quite content to be one of his public audience.

Count von Hertling's reply is, I must say, very vague and very confusing. It is full of equivocal phrases and leads it is not clear where. But it is certainly in a very different tone from that of Count Czernin, and apparently of an opposite purpose. It confirms, I am sorry to say, rather than removes, the unfortunate impression made by what we had learned of the conferences at Brest-Litovsk. His discussion and acceptance of our general principles lead him to no practical conclusions. He refuses to apply them to the substantive items which must constitute the body of my final settlement. He is jealous of international action and of international counsel. He accepts, he says, the principle of public diplomacy, but he appears to insist that it be confined, at any rate in this case, to generalities and that the several particular questions of territory and sovereignty, the several questions upon whose settlement must depend the acceptance of peace by the twenty-three states now engaged in the war, must be discussed and settled, not in general council, but severally by the nations most immediately concerned by interest or neighborhood. He agrees that the seas should be free, but looks askance at any limitation to that freedom by international action in the interest of the common order. He would without reserve be glad to see economic barriers resolved between nation and nation, for that could in no way impede the ambitions of the military party with whom he seems constrained to keep on terms. Neither does he raise objection to a limitation of armaments. That matter will be settled of itself, he thinks, by the economic conditions which must follow the war. But the German colonies, he demands, must be returned without debate. He will discuss with no one but the representatives of Russia what disposition shall be made of the people and the lands of the Baltic provinces; with no one but the Government of France the "conditions" under which French territory shall be evacuated; and only with Austria what shall be done with Poland. In the determination of all questions affecting the Balkan states he defers, as I understand him, to Austria and Turkey: and with regard to the agreement to be entered into concerning the non-Turkish peoples of the present Ottoman Empire, to the Turkish authorities themselves. After a settlement all round, effected in this fashion, by individual barter and concession, he would have no objection, if I correctly interpret his statement, to a league of nations which would undertake to hold the new balance of power steady against external disturbance.

It must be evident to everyone who understands that this war has wrought in the opinion and temper of the world that no general peace, no peace worth the infinite sacrifices of these years of tragical suffering, can possibly be arrived at in any such fashion. The method the German Chancellor proposes is the method of the Congress of Vienna. We cannot and will not return to that. What is at at stake now is the peace of the world. What we are striving for is a new international order based upon broad and universal principles of right and justice, -- no mere peace of shreds and patches. Is it possible that Count von Hertling does not see that, does not grasp it, is in fact living in his thought in a world dead and gone? Has he utterly forgotten the Reichstag Resolutions of the nineteenth of July, or does he deliberately ignore them? They spoke of the conditions of general peace, not of national aggrandizement or of arrangements between state and state. The peace of the world depends upon the just settlement of each of the several problems to which I adverted in my recent address to the Congress. I, of course, do not rnean that the peace of the world depends upon the acceptance of any particular set of suggestions as to the way in which those problems are to be dealt with. I mean only that those problems each and all affect the whole world; that unless they are dealt with in a spirit of unselfish and unbiased justice, with a view to the wishes, the natural connections, the racial aspirations, the security, snd the peace of mind of the peoples involved, no permanent peace will have been attained. They cannot be discussed separately or in corners. None of them constitutes a private or separate interest from which the opinion of the world may be shut out. Whatever affects the peace affects mankind, and nothing settled by military force, if settled wrong, is settled at all. It will presently have to be reopened.

Is Count von Hertling not aware that he is speaking in the court of mankind, that all the awakened nations of the world now sit in judgment on what every public man, of whatever nation, may say on the issues of a conflict which has spread to every region of the world? The Reichstag Resolutions of July themselves frankly accepted the decisions of that court. There shall be no annexations, no contributions, no punitive damage. Peoples are not to be handed about from one sovereignty to another by an international conference or an understanding between rivals and antagonists. National aspirations must be respected; peoples may now be dominated and governed only by their own consent. "Self-determination" is not a mere phrase. It is an imperative principle of actions which statesmen will henceforth ignore at their peril. We cannot have general peace for the asking, or by the mere arrangements of a peace conference. It cannot be pieced together out of individual understandings between powerful states. All the parties to this war must join in the settlement of every issue anywhere involved in it; because what we are seeing is a peace that we can all unite to guarantee and maintain and every item of it must be submitted to the common judgment whether it be right and fair, an act of justice, rather than a bargain between sovereigns.

The United States has no desire to interfere in European affairs or to act as arbiter in European territorial disputes. She would disdain to take advantage of any internal weakness or disorder to impose by own will upon another people. She is quite ready to be shown that the settlements she has suggested are not the best or the most enduring. They are only her own provisional sketch of principles and of the way in which they should be applied. But she entered this war because she was made a partner, whether she would or not, in the sufferings and indignities inflicted by the military masters of Germany, against the peace and security of mankind; and the conditions of peace will touch her as nearly as they will touch any other nation to which is entrusted a leading part in the maintenance of civilization.. She cannot see her way to peace until the causes of this war are removed, its renewal rendered as nearly as may be impossible.

This war had its roots in the disregard of the rights of small nations and of nationalities which lacked the union and the force to make good their claim to determine their own allegiances and their own forms of political life. Covenants must now be entered into which will render such things impossible for the future; and those covenants must be backed by the united force of all the nations that love justice and are willing to maintain it at any cost. If territorial settlements and the political relations of great populations which have not the organized power to resist are to be determined by the contracts of the powerful governments which consider themselves most directly affected, as Count von Hertling proposes, why may not economic questions also? It has come about in the altered world in which we now find ourselves that justice and the rights of peoples affect the whole field of international dealing as much as access to raw materials and fair and equal conditions of trade. Count von Hertling wants the essential bases of commercial and industrial life to be safeguarded by common agreement and guarantees but he cannot expect that to be conceded him if the other matters to be determined by the articles on peace are not handled in the same way as items in the final accounting. He cannot ask the benefit of common agreement in the one field without according it in the other. I take it for granted that he sees that separate and selfish compacts with regard to trade and the essential materials of manufacture would afford no foundation for peace. Neither, he may rest assured, will separate and selfish compacts with regard to provinces and peoples.

Count Czernin seems to see the fundamental elements of peace with clear eyes and does not seek to obscure them. He sees that an independent Poland, made up of all the indisputably Polish peoples who lie contiguous to one another, is a matter of European concern and must of course be conceded; that Belgium must be evacuated and restored, no matter what sacrifices and concessions that may involve; and that national aspirations must be satisfied, even within his own Empire, in the common interest of Europe and mankind. If he is silent about questions which touch the interest and purpose of his allies more nearly than they touch those of Austria only, it must of course be because he feels constrained, I suppose, to defer to Germany and Turkey in the circumstances. Seeing and conceding, as he does, the essential principles involved and the necessity of candidly applying them, he naturally feels that Austria can respond to the purpose of peace as expressed by the United States with less embarrassment than could Germany. He would probably have gone much farther had it not been for the embarrassments of Austria's alliances and of her dependence upon Germany.

After all, the test of whether it is possible for either government to go any further in this comparison of views is simple and obvious. The principles to be applied are these:

First, that each part of the final settlement must be based upon the essential justice of that particular case and upon such adjustments as are most likely to bring a peace that will be permanent;

Second, that peoples and provinces are not to be bartered about from sovereignty to sovereignty as if they were mere chattels and pawns in a game, even the great game, now forever discredited, of the balance of power; but that

Third, every territorial settlement involved in this war must be made in the interest and for the benefit of the populations concerned, and not as a part of any mere adjustment or compromise of claims amongst rival states; and

Fourth, that all well defined national aspirations shall be accorded the utmost satisfaction that can be accorded them without introducing new or perpetuating old elements of discord and antagonism that would be likely in time to breaks the peace of Europe and consequently of the world. 

A general peace erected upon such foundations can be discussed. Until such a peace can be secured we have no choice but to go on. So far as we can judge, these principles that we regard as fundamental are already everywhere accepted as imperative except among the spokesmen of the military and annexationist party in Germany. If they have anywhere else been rejected, the objectors have not been sufficiently numerous or influential to make their voices audible. The tragical circumstance is that this one party in Germany is apparently willing and able to send millions of men to their death to prevent what all the world now sees to be just.

I would not be a true spokesman of thc people of the United States if I did not say once more that we entered this war upon no small occasion, and that we can never turn back from a course chosen upon principle. Our resources are in part mobilized now, and we shall not pause until they are mobilized in their entirety. Our armies are rapidly going to the fighting front, and will go more and more rapidly. Our whole strength will be put into this war of emancipation, -- emancipation from the threat and attempted mastery of selfish groups of autocratic rulers, -- whatever the difficulties and present partial delays. We are indomitable in our power of independent action and can in no circumstances consent to live in a world governed by intrigue and force. We believe that our own desire for a new international order under which reason and justice and the common interests of mankind shall prevail is the desire of enlightened men everywhere. Without that new order the world will be without peace and human life will lack tolerable conditions of existence and development. Having set our hand to the task of achieving it, we shall not turn back.

I hope that it is not necessary for me to add that no word of what I have said is intended as a threat. That is not the temper of our people. I have spoken thus only that the whole world may know the true spirit of America -- that men everywhere may know that our passion for justice and for self-government is no mere passion of words but a passion which, once set in action, must be satisfied. The power of the United States is a menace to no nation or people. It will never be used in aggression or for the aggrandizement of any selfish interest of our own. lt springs out of freedom and is for the service of freedom.

In other grim news, readers of the Monday paper were learning that the Ukraine had indeed accepted German protectorate status and that Romania  now appeared on the brink of bowing out.  U.S. troops were pouring into Europe, but at the same time, German troops already in Eastern Europe should have been pouring back the other way.

I guess in cheerier news, the weather in Cheyenne was really warm for February, the warmest ever at that time.   And a holiday was coming up.  Readers of the Laramie paper were encouraged that Heatless Days, which were in fact Mondays, might be coming to an end.

1919  February 11, 1919. Looking back, seeing the future, and How Dry I Am.

The news on this day, Lincoln's Birthday and a holiday, was a bit ominous.  And knowing the future to come, it proved a scary look into something that was coming.

But also in an insight as to views of the time.

The Casper paper reported that Japan was about to go to war with China. . . which in fact it was, although not for a bit over a decade from the date of the paper.  That things were brewing, however, was pretty obvious.

And the Germans were already discontent with the Versailles Treaty they hadn't even signed yet.

Stores in Casper were taking half a day off in honor of the late President Lincoln.

All the Wyoming papers were reporting that the amount of alcohol that could legally be in a beverage was now down to 1%.  Down from 2%.  Just yesterday, if you keep track of things here, you would have seen that certain religious leaders were unhappy with the 2% figure.  Perhaps their voice had been heard.

A voice that wanted to be heard, as you can read in the papers above, is Frank Houx's, who was insistent that had done nothing improper regarding land rights acquisitions.

And notable cities in the former Russian Empire were changing hands as the fortunes of the Reds seemed to be reversing on the battlefield.

And France and Britain wished to remain friends with the United States going forward, they both had declared.

And the clothing shortage made both the front news, and the cartoons.

1994  A 5.3 earthquake occurred about 50 miles from Jackson.

2006  The Dick Cheney,  Harry Whittington, accidental shooting incident.

Elsewhere:   1943   General Eisenhower selected to command the allied armies in Europe.

February 10

1871  First homestead filing in Montana made.

1875   John M. Thayer began his second term as Territorial Governor.

1876  Gen. Terry ordered to take action against Sioux and Cheyenne who remained off their reservations.

1883  Long serving Episcopal missionary, Rev. John Roberts, arrives at Ft. Washakie.

1890  11,000,000 acres ceded by the Sioux opened for entry.

1904  The United States Secretary of the Interior set aside $2,250,000 for the initial construction of the Shoshone Project, including a Damn, which was one of the first federal reclamation projects in the nation and the largest federal project in Wyoming.  The entire water project would take years to complete.

1919  Monday, February 10, 1919: Theodore Roosevelt Mourned, IWW Men Deported, Butte Broke, Allies to Depart Russia but Japanese Not So Much, and Bad News for Houx

Readers of newspapers across the nation were reading of recent tributes to the late Theodore Roosevelt.  In Casper, locals read about just that occurring locally in the Methodist Church by Judge Charles Winter.

First United Methodist Church today.

First United Methodist Church, the one referred to in the article, is still there and is one of Casper's oldest churches.  It didn't look quite the same, however, as it was added to in 1927, twenty years after its initial construction, and again in 1951.

Charles Winter had a son, Warren, who served as a very long time Casper lawyer and lived to be nearly 100, keeping his office open the entire time.  He had also been a Federal Magistrate for a time, so he reprised a judicial role in his family.  His entry into the law, however, was delayed by the Great Depression, as there were no jobs at the time he passed the bar.  A great track athlete in his youth, his funeral service was in this same church.

Big news was present in the form of the story that the Allies would be withdrawing from Russia.  The various allied nations were engaged in Russia in various degrees, with the British being particularly active in combating the Red Army.  A person could be somewhat skeptical that the withdrawal was going to go really well as the paper also related that the Japanese were becoming more involved.

The strike in Seattle wound down and a selection of IWW men were being sent backing back to their native lands.  In Butte Montana, lack of funds were causing public employment layoffs.

And the bad news just kept coming for former Democratic Governor Frank Houx, who had lead the state during the Great War but who had lost his seat to Governor Robert Carey.  Oil leases he had gained were reportedly being recaptured due to accusations of impropriety.  Democrats in general were also in the local news as they were being blamed for the failure of a bill to amend the Constitution to require suffrage for women.

The Laramie newspaper was reporting snow for the week. . . in a week where we also expect snow.

And both papers reported the Germans were threatening to surrender Germany to the communists if better terms weren't worked out in regarding war indemnity.

Exciting Western themed movies were opening that week for those who might wish to escape the news for awhile.

 

1933  State Librarian Ruth Harrington became exofficio State Historian.  Attribution.  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1940     Colorado born Glenn Miller's iconic swing classic "In The Mood" reaches Number 1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.

1944   Thursday, February 10, 1944. Victory at Saidor

Troops entering Quartermaster Replacement Training Center (QMRTC), Ft. F.E. Warren, Wyoming. July 6, 1943. Photo by US Army Signal Corps. Released for publication February 10, 1944.

1967     The 25th Amendment to the Constitution, dealing with presidential disability and succession, went into effect.

1980  Floyd Taliaferro Alderson died in Sheridan.  Alderson had been an early movie star, acting at first under the name Wally Wales and later as Hal Taliaferro. He'd been born in Sheridan in 1895 and grew up on the family ranch in Montana, where he returned after his acting career concluded.

2020  Governor Gordon delivered his 2020 State of the State Address.  It stated:

President Perkins, Speaker Harshman, and Members of the 65th Legislature thank you for your welcome. To the people of Wyoming here and those watching at home, good morning. 

I also want to welcome: Secretary of State Ed Buchanan, Auditor Kristi Racines, Treasurer Curt Meier, and Superintendent Jillian Balow. 

It is a distinct honor to serve with these individuals. Together we have addressed many tough issues this year, always crafting sensible, workable solutions to even the most complex challenges facing some of our state's communities large and small. Thank you for your work. 

We are honored this morning with the presence of our Supreme Court: Chief Justice Davis, and Justices Koutz, Fox, Boomgaarden, and Gray. Thank you for your wise consideration of perplexing issues, and for your thoughtful administration of the law. 

I am really pleased to have Lee Spoonhunter, Chairman of the Northern Arapaho Business Council with us today. And although, unfortunately, travel conditions prevented Karen Snyder, Vice-chair of the Eastern Shoshone Business Council, from being here. Please join me in recognizing them both. 

We are friends, and I have enjoyed building our relationships this year and I look forward to the progress we will make in the year ahead. Our peoples and our governments deserve our best efforts. Thank you also to Secretary of State Buchanan and his team for his partnership with both tribes to advance a good proposal so that Tribal IDs can be used for voter registration. 

I could not be more pleased to welcome Captain Scott Koenig to the Chamber. Captain Koenig is a Wyoming native who along with 29 other soldiers recently returned from Afghanistan. He and the other members of 3rd Platoon of Charlie Company left last January on a challenging mission  to provide 24-hour aeromedical evacuation coverage in Helmand Province. Captain Koening welcome home to Wyoming ---- and know that we are so proud of the talented and brave members of your team. I want to congratulate you for receiving the Air Medal and a Combat Action Badge. 

Adjutant General Greg Porter could not be here today. Taking his place is Command Sergeant Major Harold Pafford. I want to thank him for his leadership and many years of service. As the General says, our Guard is “the sword and the shield. Our nation is lethal fighting force when and the folks who keep our homes safe from fire, flood, and other catastrophes 

A little story here: General Porter, Command Sergeant Major Pafford and I accompanied the First Lady to enjoy Thanksgiving with our men and women in uniform overseas. Jennie grew up in a military family and knows well that any deployment is not easy. Not easy because our Army and Air Guard members are away from those that they love and those that love them. Please join me in saluting our men and women and their families for being the sword and the shield. 

Let us keep in our thoughts all members of our military serving overseas and at home. We thank you and all those many veterans who have defended our nation. 

You know I am especially proud of Jennie and clearly, I married above my station. As First Lady, she established the nationally recognized Wyoming Hunger Initiative. It is so important to so many kids in our state, and true to form, she has done i extraordinary efforts of so many working around the state to address food insecurity. She is making this happen while keeping our ranch running, supporting our family, and loving every moment of being a grandmother to Everett. My equal in every way -- she is the epitome of a Wyoming woman: accomplished, strong, versatile, independent, caring, talented, warm and a lover of the great outdoors. Jennie, my respect for you is absolute. And my love for you is boundless. 

Let us respect all Wyoming women by working every day to live up to our motto: We are the Equality State. 

Thank you, Sarah and Spencer for being here. Your son, our grandson, represents the future generations of our state. Everett is not here today, but his other grandparents, Mark and Shelly Fagin are, Everett is busy studying for an Ag Econ degree with his toy tractor, horses, cows, chickens, sheep, and pigs. 

Finally, on behalf of the citizens of Wyoming I want to sincerely thank the members of the 65th Legislature of the state of Wyoming for your willingness to serve, and your commitment to our great state. These are not easy times and there will be hard choices to make, but I enjoy our work together. I respect and value your thoughts as we face our common future. I ask all of the guests here to join me in applauding our State Legislature. 

Before moving on to the progress we have made and issues we face, I want to offer a few thoughts on this magnificent building. To quote you, Mr. Speaker, from Statehood Day this summer, "Look around you. Take in this place. Take a moment to appreciate it and the history that has happened here." 

A lot has happened over the past year, culminating on December 10th, when we honored Wyoming's heritage as the first government to recognize a woman's vote. 

Before I recognize the good men and women who worked to bring this effort to fruition, I want to present to you Mr. President and to you Mr. Speaker, the first flags that flew over your chambers. 

Just to let you know how this came about, we could not fly either flag last July on Statehood Day because the hardware was broken. The consultants projected it would cost thousands of dollars to repair because the scaffolding had been removed, In fact, it did not look like we would be able to fly flags today. However, Tommy Ojeda and his phenomenal crew landed on a way to fix them for around $300 all in. That is the dedication and ingenuity of our state workforce. 

Let me recognize the members of the original Capitol Oversight Committee, some of whom are here today: Senators Eli Bebout, Chris Rothfuss, Jayne Mockler, Phil Nicholas, Tony Ross, Representatives Kermit Brown, Rosie Berger, Tim Stubson, Mary Throne, Pete Illoway and especially, Governor Mead. Thank you all for your dedication to this effort. 

Mr. David Hart of MOCA Systems must also be thanked for his work in getting this project on track and keeping the Oversight Committee in line. 

Lastly, I hope you will join me in thanking the craftsmen and women whose care is evident everywhere you look in this building. 

So now to the business at hand. 

Today, I am proud to report that Wyoming's economy and the state is strong. 

More people are finding a better future in our state. Our population has grown. Unemployment is down and is at the lowest rate since 2008; gross domestic product is increasing; and personal income is up. Despite some obvious challenges this year, our economy remains strong. 

We are strong thanks to our people. We are strong because we have planned well for challenging times. We are strong because of our industries: energy, tourism, agriculture, and the emerging sectors of knowledge-based business and manufacturing. I am confident we will remain strong by aggressively engaging our future and seizing our opportunities. 

Thanks to the wisdom of our forebears, some in this very room, and the leadership of an extraordinary group of Governors and Treasurers, including Treasurer Meier; Wyoming finds itself in an enviable place amongst our peers. We have savings. This means we have time, not a lot of time, but time to make thoughtful decisions about our future and our budget. 

The budget I presented to you, which the Joint Appropriations Committee passed, was intended to trigger a serious conversation about our future, ways to diversify our economy, and ways to strengthen our state. Wyoming will always depend on our traditional industries but it must also take advantage of new opportunities. 

My budget charts a fiscally stable path. It keeps ongoing spending flat, giving our state time to think about the services we need to provide, and what we can do without. 

This budget took the advice of the Legislature and funded education in an undiminished capacity. In doing so, we will have to spend from our savings. The valve on education funding is stuck open and will require further consideration by this body as to whether that plumbing will hold up over time. 

This is the year we recalibrate Wyoming's funding model. Accordingly, I recommend that this year we carefully consider Superintendent Balow's suggestion to review Wyoming's “Basket of Goods." The basket is what Wyoming mandates to be taught in school. It was crafted before Wyoming schools had access to the internet. We owe it to our kids, and our state, to offer a 21st century, world-class education. 

My budget proposes curbs on capital construction. I did so noting that we are already engaged in several expansive and expensive projects: the State Hospital, the Life Resource Center, the UW Science Facility, the Skilled Nursing Facility, the Wyoming State Penitentiary, and the Casper State Office Building to name a few.

Given that we cannot afford to pay the people we need to staff these new buildings, it makes little sense to continue to build as aggressively as we have when times were more flush. 

In keeping with this administration's desire for transparency. I want to commend Auditor Racines and her office for bringing unprecedented transparency to the State's checkbook with the WyOpen website. My office has also set up a website, Wyoming Sense. It illustrates ing process in a transparent way. Now anyone in Wyoming can easily see what is being budgeted and how it is being spent. 

It may come as something of a surprise, but state government is actually smaller now than it was a decade ago. There are fewer state employees who are being asked to do more with less. They have capably responded by leveraging technology to implement better ways to provide the services our citizens need, 

To further these efforts, I have endorsed strategic investments in new technology and advanced cybersecurity. We cannot afford to fall further behind in this critical area. 

We must also recognize the value of our workforce. We are losing some of our most skilled, productive, and knowledgeable employees because we do not pay competitively. On top of that, we should remember that we had to increase both employee health insurance and retirement contributions, which effectively reduced their take-home pay. 

Let me sum up this problem: It is a vicious cycle. We continually need to train new employees, who then become better candidates for positions in other states with better pay scales. This is unacceptably expensive, and it is costly. We should be thinking about keeping the people who know what to do and how to do it. 

While I understand Wyoming's reluctance to offer permanent salary increases in this revenue climate, I have proposed a one-time bonus aimed at recognizing and retaining talent. If we truly want to reduce government, we can only do it with motivated people who know how to do their jobs. 

Rarely has the importance of good employees been more evident than on July 1st last year when Blackjewel unexpectedly closed down operations at two of Wyoming's largest coal mines. 

While other states with Blackjewel operations vibrated ineffectively, Wyoming sprang into action. The dedicated, talented, and knowledgeable team at DEQ came in to support mine employees and immediately set about stabilizing the mines. Other agencies started working with our miners to find them jobs, provide them earned benefits, and renegotiate mortgage schedules. Things could have been worse, and they were elsewhere in coal country. 

Before moving on, I want to highlight some other important and dedicated public employees: The ones who keep us safe; our first responders. 

This past year several Highway Patrol Troopers were injured. Trooper Jaime Wingard is here with us today. In October, she was investigating a crash on 1-25 outside of Wheatland, when she was struck from behind by a semi-truck, tearing her seat loose and totaling her car. Thankfully, she was wearing her seatbelt and was not significantly harmed. 

It is a stark reminder that our first responders, troopers, firefighters, EMTs, and law enforcement folks put their lives on the line every day. 

Trooper Wingard, for you and on behalf of all law enforcement and first responders please accept our esteem and appreciation. By all means, be careful out there. 

By now Wyoming citizens know too well how a myopic national political attitude to vilify fossil fuels has affected our energy industry. Twenty-eight states have enacted either renewable energy standards or low-carbon policies. These are targeted at the industries that have helped raise our standard of living, built our schools, funded public infrastructure, and made us the premier economy in the world. We produce energy better, more safely, and with more attention to the environment than anywhere else on the planet, and yet our industries are still discriminated against, maligned, and decried as dead. 

Well, not on my watch! Know this -- Wyoming will always advocate for our industries, whether it be to protect against unconstitutional restraint of trade, or in their endeavors to deliver cleaner, more dependable, more affordable, and safer energy to our nation. 

In the galley is Rob Piippo, the mine manager at Kemmerer Mine. Rob represents the dedicated men and women who go to work every day to see that people, mostly outside of Wyoming, can cool and heat their homes, and that the lights come on when they hit the switch. 

I remember the day Rob showed me the mine's pink haul truck, a tribute to women miners and a statement to stand up to breast cancer. Your community, your mine, the people who work there are the heart and soul of Wyoming. Rob, please know that we respect the work you and your fellow miners do every day, and that this Governor will always have your back. 

The problem we face is not burning coal. The problem is that we have not recognized or seized the opportunities to burn it cleaner, to use its byproducts more beneficially, or to remember its role as our country's most reliable source of electricity for over a hundred years.

We in Wyoming are leading the way. Our University, the Integrated Test Center, and the carbon valley in Northeast Wyoming are just parts of this singular effort. However, we must do more. That is why my administration has taken this fight to the Supreme Court. 

Oregon, California, and Washington have each sought to extend the reach of environmental regulations well beyond their borders, to blockade interior states like Wyoming their rightful access to coastal ports. These actions are a blatant unconstitutional restraint of trade. 

A few weeks ago, Montana joined us in bringing an original complaint before the Supreme Court to challenge Washington State's arbitrary action against the Millennium Bulk Coal Terminal. The vehicle is the Millenium Port, but the issue is an arbitrary and capricious discrimination against a useful commodity. It represents a direct threat to our products and Wyoming's way of life. I will defend our state. 

Thank you, Attorney General Hill and your staff for your meticulous work in crafting a strong original brief before our nation's highest court.

On the national stage, I continue to work with our exceptional federal delegation Congresswoman Cheney, Senator Barrasso and especially the yeoman service of retiring Senator Mike Enzi. 

Together we are advocating for legislative and regulatory reform of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. In November, I traveled to Washington DC to support Senator John Barrasso's bill that does just that. State water quality regulation should be about water quality within one's own boundaries, not used as a weapon by one state to impose its will on another. 

I also have provided resources to the Public Service Commission to closely examine the assumptions made by various utilities' Integrated Resource Plans. Changes in them can impact hundreds of our jobs. It is our duty to verify that the proposed early closures of coal-burning units are truly warranted and economical, and not just philosophical or political. Wyoming genuinely welcomes renewable resources like wind and solar. However, we will not recklessly abandon our most abundant and reliable energy source just because it is unpopular with some people. 

Today, I challenge all of us to work together to make sure that the next carbon capture and sequestration facility is built here in Wyoming. I ask for your support of legislation requiring all new electric generation capacity produced in Wyoming to be reliable, consistent, and that a reasonable portion of it be net carbon negative. In doing so, Wyoming will demonstrate what no other state has had the courage to do: we will require true CO2 sequestration, not just some artificial notion that wind and solar can cure climate change all by themselves. 

I have asked you to add one million dollars for coal market augmentation and preservation. This appropriation will be used to defend our energy industry, to sustain the revenues energy provides for our state, and to support local communities' future planning. 

I urge your support of a $25 million investment to establish the Energy Commercialization Program. This program will provide a coordinated approach to supporting research to speed along technologies that advance zero or net-negative carbon uses for coal and other fossil fuels. I cannot be more emphatic. Time is of the essence. We must act now to prevent coalmines from closing

Last year, Campbell and Converse Counties were rocked by multiple bankruptcies; one in particular came as a shock. Thankfully, there are people in Wyoming who embody the Code of the West. In the gallery is Dan Baker. When his employer abruptly shut down coalmines and sent workers home without pay or notice, Dan and others responded. 

They worked tirelessly to make sure the mines were kept safe, secure and free from hazards so his fellow employees would have a workplace to return to at the end of the legal wrangling in bankruptcy court. Today that mine is up and running again. Dan would you stand so that we can recognize you. 

As the Blackjewel bankruptcy shows, counties are at risk and should not be left holding an empty bag. Consequently, I am supporting proposed legislation to change ad-valorem tax payments to a monthly basis. I realize this presents a seismic shift to our already financially strapped industries. The transition must allow long-term, dependable industries sufficient time to adjust. Wyoming is a patient place and we appreciate our industry; but we all pay our debts and expect others to as well. 

Coal is not the only Wyoming industry under stress. I note with particular urgency the state of our natural gas industry. Today, only two rigs are drilling for natural gas in Wyoming. That is the lowest number in the last 20 years. We have seen bankruptcies and halts in production in this industry too, with equally devastating consequences for local communities. Estimates of natural gas revenue continue to spiral down. I seek the Legislature's support in crafting a temporary, price-based reduction in severance taxes for those most in need. 

Wyoming is exceptional when it comes to energy and minerals.-.-- We remain the nation's leader in coal, uranium, and trona. We are eighth in oil and gas production. Even with today's challenges, Wyoming coal supplies 11 percent of the Nation's electricity. In fact, Wyoming is 

third in overall energy production. With the addition of wind and solar, we are broadening the portfolio of energy we provide to the nation. 

Wyoming is known for our natural resources and our public lands. It can be interesting when your largest landholder is the federal government. Our state's relationship with the feds has ebbed and flowed over the years, but thanks to President Trump, right now our relationship is strong and cooperative. With initiatives like Shared Stewardship, I commit to do my part to keep it that way. We will work with our federal partners to make sure that the 48 percent of our lands within Wyoming managed by the federal government continue to be accessible for all uses. 

Wyoming cares about our natural resources. We love our mountains, our streams, our open spaces, our Red Desert and National Parks. We love to hunt and fish, to climb and bike, to bird and just sit out and take in the night sky. Over the past year, we made significant strides in addressing the challenges and obstacles facing Wyoming's lands, wildlife, and waters. 

In October, I launched the Invasive Species Initiative. We are establishing better ways to combat the spread of invasive species across our state. Invasives are a universal challenge, not just one that affects our farms and ranches. They infect our public lands and waterways and thus impact our wildlife, fire dynamics, tourist operations and even more. It is imperative we meet this challenge head-on. 

Wyoming is the first state in the nation to tackle the important matter of preserving unique wildlife corridors. National Geographic recently recognized Arthur Middleton and Joe Riis for tracing big game migration routes. Their work shows how crucial these corridors are to preserving these iconic populations. 

As we have seen in Jonah, developing an oil and gas play is complex. Regulations are important, but they can also impede development. There is a balance to be struck, one that respects landowners' private rights and maintains Wyoming's wildlife and resources. My Big Game Migration Corridor Advisory Group did just that. 

Marissa Taylor is a rancher and a mom from Uinta County. As a member of the group, she devoted many days this year listening to and working with other citizens from counties, industry, wildlife and recreation interests searching for a sustainable approach to migration corridors. Marissa would you please stand to be recognized. 

What the group crafted was a recommendation that provides a practical way to identify, designate, and protect a few migration routes without offending private property rights. Based on their work, and my own travels throughout the state talking to affected stakeholders on all sides, I have drafted an Executive Order to implement their recommendations. 

My Executive Order provides opportunities for area working groups, county commissioners and others informed by science to provide on-the-ground tailored recommendations to preserve vital migration routes for two species- mule deer and antelope. It is absolutely not a land grab or a way to create hundreds of routes, or even the "spaghetti map" that some are falsely claiming, The order simply establishes a way to designate a handful ----- single digits — of corridors to protect our state's great treasures: our wildlife, our hunting, and our opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. 

Speaking of local solutions. Let me tell you about why I am so proud to have grown up in agriculture. I believe it is the backbone of our state. We will continue to work to expand markets and support this industry across a range of topics. But there is one issue, which really came into focus this year. Early on the morning of July 17th, right as the summer was beginning to heat up, an alarm went off indicating that the Goshen Irrigation Fort Laramie Gering Canal had lost all of its water. Goshen Irrigation Canal Tunnel Number 2 had collapsed, shutting off the flow to 110 thousand acres of critical farmland. The water then backed up and blew out the canal bank. As Senator Steinmetz will tell you it was a big hole the kind you can see from outer space! 

Rob Posten, District Manager is here with us today to represent the board of the Goshen Irrigation District. Now, Rob is a Wyoming guy and he asked me to recognize other GID staff ---- Linda Keeran, Andrea Janes, and Kevin Strecker, who faced that daunting challenge. But I want to ask Rob to rise so we may recognize him and the Goshen Irrigation District for their determination and perseverance. With the help of many others, including state agencies and our friends in Nebraska, these folks got water flowing again before summer's end. 

The GID tunnel failure highlights a larger, systematic vulnerability facing our state's aging irrigation infrastructure. I personally worked with the Select Water Committee on a solution to this problem. Under the leadership of Chairmen Hicks and Laursen, The Committee passed a good bill. It is a first step. Let's keep it targeted to irrigation. 

I want to ensure that we are doing everything we can to grow the second most significant source of income to our state. Tourism and outdoor recreation in Wyoming represents an enormous opportunity to grow our economy. It is a sector which employs more people and returns substantial sales tax revenue. The revenue comes mostly from outside our state.

Whether it is skijoring at the Sundance Winter Carnival this month; skiing in the Tetons or at Hogadon; ice climbing in Cody; snowmobiling in the Bighorns; a ranch vacation in Saratoga; bird watching on the Cokeville Meadows; mountain biking at Curt Gowdy or Johnny Behind the Rocks; enjoying The Daddy of 'Em All right here in Cheyenne, or a rodeo almost anywhere in Wyoming; fishing the Wedding of the Waters or on Glendo; or water skiing on the Gorge or Alcova; Wyoming has a bit of something for everyone.

Think about what we can do with Hot Springs State Park. Now there is a new military museum in Dubois opening in May. I could go on, but you get the idea. Wyoming is a marvelous place where you can still get on a river, climb a mountain, or simply enjoy a quiet evening on the plains. I applaud our tourism industry and I support its proposal for a lodging tax that would help Wyoming compete with our neighboring states. 

Over the last year, we have spoken extensively about education, and I have had the pleasure of engaging with the educational community about a variety of issues. I want to recognize Dane Weaver, a passionate teacher of 7th through 12th grade social studies. He lives in a little town at the base of Tensleep Canyon just over the hill from where I grew up. Please join me in congratulating him as Wyoming's Teacher of the Year, and in expressing our appreciation for all teachers in Wyoming 

I would like to ask Dr. Neil Theobold, acting president of UW, to stand so that we can recognize our university. It is a tremendous and enduring institution. 

Just two weeks ago, I sat down with Neil and the presidents of our community colleges, which are so important to our state. Over lunch, we began a discussion about how to better organize Wyoming's post-secondary educational opportunities to be more economic and better able to deliver education where it is needed. I left the meeting excited about our opportunities.

My adninistration has helped to secure additional financial resources for the year ahead to strategize, evaluate and improve our early-education, K-12 and post-secondary systems. 

We are hearing good things around the state about the strides we are making in workforce development. In particular, the Wyoming Works program and the efforts of the Educational Attainment Executive Council, which has aggressive goals to increase the number of people in Wyoming earning post-secondary certificates and degrees.

Through the collaborative efforts of the K-12 education sector, community colleges, UW and industry, we can equip our students with the necessary skills to ensure their success and improve Wyoming's economic health. This is really good news.

We have a window of opportunity in this recalibration year to critically, and in good faith, discuss what we need to teach, and how we can sustainably fund our education system. I am committed to working with you to find a solution. This is something we simply cannot afford to put off. This train has arrived and the people of Wyoming know it. Let us not miss it. 

My administration is also dedicated to improving access and lowering the cost of healthcare, including prescription drugs. Notably, we need to improve mental health care through innovative approaches, and coordinating agency policies for a more seamless delivery of services. 

One area of focus is on the prevention of suicide. This issue struck close to home when I heard from classmates of my own kids who have struggled with these dark thoughts. Too many of our residents are suffering -- and sadly, far too many are acting on it. 

I have supported funding to launch an in-state suicide hotline. This is just a start. We need to work with providers and leverage all of our state resources to do a better job of attending to those in need.

My administration is also working on ways to support families and individuals who have been exposed to adversity and trauma. Together we can create a healthier Wyoming where our citizens have quality services for generations to come. 

Our state is strong. Wyoming truly was forged out of the West by entrepreneurs; it is our history and it must be our future. I am anxious to see our state once again become the model of where anyone can create wealth from their own enterprise, grit, and work ethic. 

We are supporting our existing industries by revamping the Business Council. It now has a new mission and a new CEO, Josh Dorrell, who just took up the reins. He will be coming to your town soon. His entrepreneurial, private sector experience and deep understanding of Wyoming will be invaluable in helping to support existing businesses, grow new ones, and attract whole new enterprises to our state.

Finally, to end where I began — with this building. A significant percentage of the 65th Legislature has never served in this capitol. So, I want to take just a moment to remember what it was to be here before the construction project began. 

When I arrived as Treasurer in 2012, this place was full of people and energy. Visitors from all over the state and the world wandering the halls, and marveling not so much at the architecture, but at the fact you could walk into this building and be greeted by, and have a conversation with, the Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, or a member of the Legislature. This does not happen anywhere else. Over and over again that is what I heard was the real charm of this place. It was a working Capitol "The People's House." It is the way government should be; accessible.

When the session started, legislators would often stop by my office to discuss legislation, or what they hoped to accomplish during the session. The coffee pot was always on. Good work came from the camaraderie that was the hallmark of this Capitol. 

This restored building provides the opportunity to continue that culture. There is great history in these walls, but it is not a museum. There is the promise of progress and moments ahead as defining as the passage of our Constitution and the recognition of universal suffrage. Like past generations in this building, we too have a rendezvous with destiny. However, like past generations it can only be done if we work together. 

I encourage you to take some time to welcome and engage visitors. This is the people's house and home to our government. Let's visit one another regularly. My office will always have the coffee on and sometimes-awesome sweet rolls. Let's fill these halls with the energy and optimism that have always defined Wyoming.

God Bless you God Bless Wyoming And God bless the United States of America.