Embezzlement & Moonshine, Baggs Wyoming Bank

On Labor Day, I was heading home from a fun weekend with some friends, and we pulled into the tiny town of Baggs, Wyoming. There is a lot of history in Baggs, including the home of Butch Cassidy.

We decided to zigzag around and see the sights. That's when we turned onto a street that used to be MAINS STREET BAGGS! We came to a sliding stop in front of the old Baggs Bank. The sliding stop was my fault. It was an exciting moment.

A building like this is supposed to bring feelings of trust. Nothing like that happened, because this is BAGGS, WYOMING! Like the town, the bank building has a sordid, criminal past.

There was an older lady taking stuff out of the bank and loading it into her pickup truck. We stopped and had a talk with her and her brother. They are the current owners of the building.

Construction began in 1907 on a prominent building designed to house the First State Bank of Baggs, reflecting the boom-town optimism of the isolated frontier.

First State Bank Of Baggs, Wyoming, Photo By Tim Mandese, Focus West Photography

We learned that the First Bank of Baggs was and is the only bank that the town has ever had. It closed after the owner made off with all of the money in it.

The Bank Closed in 1924, after which the structure transitioned through various uses, including a doctor's office, a bootlegging operation during Prohibition, and eventually the Bank Club Bar.

Below is an old safe, still inside. Fat lot of good it did for the people who kept money there.

First State Bank Of Baggs, Wyoming, Photo By Tim Mandese, Focus West Photography

There was even an old western shootout in front of the bank between the sheriff and a wanted man. Ghost stories abound.

The Bank is one of a few of the original buildings still standing in the community. Though not a false front, the bank is an excellent example of western 'boom town' attempts to provide urban scale and create a sense of stability in isolated small towns.

But, again, that sense of stability was a lie, because this is Baggs, Wyoming.

First State Bank Of Baggs, Wyoming, Photo By Tim Mandese, Focus West Photography

Since the bank building took on many roles, it is now called THE BANK CLUB BAR.

We were told that the old building is being sold to someone who wants to store and maybe sell books there.

First State Bank Of Baggs, Wyoming, Photo By Tim Mandese, Focus West Photography

Sometimes the most beautiful drives are in unknown areas, the last place that you might expect to find them. Let's take a look at a route in southern Wyoming that is both of those.

Have a look at Highway 70, from Baggs, Wyoming, to Encampment. For the sake of this article, I'll describe it as I drove it with friends from Baggs on the west side, heading east to Encampment.

Battle Pass Scenic Byway is a 57-mile paved drive along Wyoming Highway 70 that climbs over the crest of the Sierra Madre Mountains in the Medicine Bow National Forest.

BAGGS - This little town is full of history and mostly not the sad-looking place that you have been told. Look for the cabin of Butch Cassidy and his wife, which is now a museum, and have a look at what once was their downtown. Not much of it is left, and there are stories of Old West shootouts and ghosts.

The drive east was rolling hills, beautiful, well-kept farms below, and rolling green mountains in the distance. The passengers loved it, and as the driver, I was having a great time.

DIXON -  is a small, historic incorporated town located in the Little Snake River Valley of southwest Carbon County, Wyoming, with a population of about 74 people. Cute homes and marvelous landscaping.

SAVERY - is a small, scenic unincorporated ranching community in southeastern Carbon County, Wyoming, sitting at an elevation of 6,473 feet along the upper Little Snake River. YOU MUST STOP AT THE MUSEUM! Walk from one old restored house and schoolhouse to another, including country stores. You'll probably spend a couple of hours there.

The drive becomes more rolling hills and turns as the landscape changes from farms to ranches. You'll twist and turn your way up into the Medicine Bow National Forest. Amongst the endless stretch of pines, you'll see long aspen groves, making this a perfect place for a fall drive.

BATTLE WYOMING - was a little community that ended in violence. You'll want to stop at the overlook and read the markers.

ENCAMPMENT - is down below. More twisty-turny through groves of pines and aspens. Then, off in the distance, you'll see the grand mountain of the SNOWY RANGE.

This drive is BEAUTIFUL, and I'll be back to do it again and again.