Homesteader’s Diary Shows Both Heartbreak And Joy Of Wyoming Life

It's not hard to close your eyes and picture what life used to be like in Wyoming.

One of the things that we love the most about life out here on the wide-open prairie surrounded by mountains, is our close contact with the way things were.

I've spent many nights trying to soothe a fussy baby, staring out the window into nothing but darkness...rocking back and forth as I listen to the wind whirl and the Coyotes cry...thankful that I had more than a tar paper shack or a homesteaders cabin to protect me from all that wide openness.

I learned about Taylor Barnette's TikTok account from a friend. He shared with me a video where Taylor read a diary entry from his Great Grandmother's 100-year-old journal entry where she described her first trip ever to Casper.

I was hooked.

After watching several more videos where Taylor read aloud a few lines of Sue's journal and mirrored the entry with what life looked like on that very same Wyoming ranch 100 years later...I knew I had to learn more.

Thankfully Taylor was more than happy to chat with me about his Great Grandmother Sue (and her husband Dick) and the Wyoming ranch they purchased 100 years ago, that he and his family still work and live on.

The ranch is located outside of Lusk, Wyoming and Taylor said he shared these entries and videos in the hopes that people would see the beauty of the similarities between life then, and now.

He personally was struck by the grit and grace it took for Sue and Dick to survive and thrive out in the middle of nowhere.

And he marveled more than once at the strength of Sue to keep moving forward after the death of not one, but three infants.

The diary entries are short and simple, brisk and clear, and more than a little hauntingly beautiful.

On Taylor's TikTok account where he has more than 100,000 followers, you can find dozens more diary entries, but I'm warning you....set aside some time because you're going to end up being utterly captivated with this story of two people who set out to build their dream under the wide Wyoming sky.

Wyoming is what America was, and that's not a bad thing.