The pair will share stories of the west during the 1890's and 1900's at the Upton Community Center on Monday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m.
Ray and Jackie Maple will present a living history program on the lives and times of Tom O'Day and Bronco Nell, two colorful characters of the outlaw days of early Wyoming. "Tom interacted with a lot of famous people during his lifetime," Ray Maple said. "It is true Wyoming history and we are losing a lot of the oral history because people are not putting it down and saving it."
O"Day was one of the least known members of the infamous Hole-In-The-Wall gang under Butch Cassidy. The gang called him "Peep" because they would send him ahead of a holdup to case banks, a duty he was given in the failed Belle Fourche, SD bank robbery. He was an active participant in many robberies but what ended his outlaw career was rustling horses belonging to Wyoming governor-to-be B.B. Brooks. Following his release from prision, O'Day followed the law until his death.
Bronco Nell (Ella Smith) was an early day freighter drover from Meeteetse. She became known as "Bronco Nell" by breaking out her best horse during haul trips. Nell had some run-ins with the law and was among the last women to serve time in the Rawlins penitentiary. The time was earned by convictions for putting her brand on a couple colts that belonged to a neighbor and selling moonshine.
The Maples are official Park County, WY ambassadors and living history purveyors. They travel around the state and West telling tales of outlaw days in Wyoming at cowboy shoots, rodeos and other events as Tom O'Day and Bronco Nell.
This program is sponsored by the Upton Branch Library and the Weston County Library Foundation and is free, suitable for all ages, and open to the public. Join us for a fun and informative evening.
