Celebrate 125th anniversary of Wyo. statehood

A special “Legacy of Wyoming” program celebrating the 125th anniversary of Wyoming statehood will be held in Hot Springs State Park, Thermopolis, Sat., August 1.

“Buffalo Bill” Boycott and “Dr. Jo” mix story, song and visual images -- historical paintings and photographs -- to highlight Wyoming’s place in the American West.

The program is part of the Big Horn Basin Folk Festival supported by Hot Springs Greater Learning Foundation. It is sponsored through a grant by the Wyoming Humanities Council with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Wyoming State Legislature.

Boycott regularly presents programs in schools, at historic sites and special events throughout the state. He has produced two programs on the history of the West/Wyoming and the Oregon Trail in cooperation with Wyoming Public TV. In 2011 he won the Western Music Association’s Male Yodeler Award.

The free program will be held in the Pavilion, 1:30-2:45 p.m. Boycott presents an annual history program for Hot Springs fourth graders in the fall. He has given concerts in Thermopolis through the Hot Springs Greater Learning Foundation community performances programs. He is well liked for his informal style and humor.

He and his partner, Joanne Orr, have also won a Western Music Harmony Duo Award. “Dr. Jo” brings a women’s point of view to the Equality State’s history.

Willie LeClair, Shoshone elder, Wind River Reservation, will make a guest appearance to talk about the importance of the buffalo, Sacajawea’s role in the West, and the Shoshoni and Arapahoe tribes on the Wind River Reservation. LeClair will also appear in the Gift of the Waters Pageant at 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday evenings.