At the next Local Lore with Bob Richard illustrated talk, he will share the story of the Earl Crouch Mine on Eagle Creek, a property he owned and worked for a time.

The talk is noon-1:15 p.m. Thursday, July 18 at Buffalo Bill Center of the West Coe Auditorium.

Crouch worked as a hunting guide for the Frost & Richard Camping Company, owned by Bob’s own ancestors. Crouch had been to the Klondike as a miner, and later built and ran the Absaroka Lodge. He found gold on Eagle Creek and — once the boundary of Yellowstone National Park was changed in 1928 — was able to mine it.

As an 8-year-old child, Bob washed dishes for Frost & Richard during the summer and went along on a trip to Eagle Creek. Years later, after Bob inherited the mine and its claims from Crouch, he worked it on weekends while a Yellowstone horse ranger. “I deemed the site too beautiful to ‘improve’ with a road and mill,” says Bob. In the 1970s Bob turned the land —which he deemed too beautiful to “improve” with a road and mill — over to the Forest Service.

The Local Lore series has become so popular that those who wish to attend must now register in advance to secure a seat. Buffalo Bill Center of the West members and those who pay regular admission to the Center may attend the talk for free, but must have reservations. Those who are not members and wish to only attend the talk will pay a $10 fee. Tickets are available online at tickets.centerofthewest.org.

The “Local Lore with Bob Richard” series is coordinated by the Center’s McCracken Research Library and takes place every other month. For 2024, remaining program dates (subject to change) include Sept. 12, Nov. 21, and Dec. 19.

For more information on all upcoming Center of the West programs and events, visit centerofthewest.org/events. 

A lifelong Wyoming resident, Richard’s varied experiences are pure West. He worked at guest ranches, guided horse and hunting trips, ranched, and for 37 years owned and operated Grub Steak Expeditions, personally touring thousands of visitors from around the world through Yellowstone and its ecosystem.

Educated at the universities of Wyoming, Arizona, and California (Fresno), Richard has served as a teacher and school administrator, a decorated U.S. Marine Corps pilot in Vietnam, and, for 21 years, helped coordinate American Red Cross service and relief activities in the western United States.

Richard is the author of several books on the Cody and Yellowstone area, as well as his own family’s deep roots in the region. They feature his own photographs and often those of his father Jack Richard and uncle Ned Frost. For information on Bob’s photography and his published books, visit bobrichardphotography.com.