The Powder River Basin Resource Council, in partnership with researchers at the University of Wyoming Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, has unveiled Wyoming Voices, a pilot project looking at how storytelling may support communities in transition.

Through this process, eight participants from Southwest Wyoming told their personal stories of loving and living in the region.

One of those willing to share his experience was Roger Varley. In the video, Varley talks about the Jim Bridger Power Plant and how his father would drive his truck on the Jim Bridger Road with his children just fast enough that when they went over hills they would yell “Whee!” We still call the road to Jim Bridger the “Whee Road” even though now its flat and straight, he says.

Roger Varley is a multigenerational Wyomingite from Point of Rocks. He is married and the father of two adult daughters. He is the proprietor of the travel center and small community located near the Jim Bridger Power Plant. Point of Rocks is also the site of the historical Overland Stagecoach station and petroglyphs.

Video courtesy of Powder River Basin Resource Council Wyoming Voices Project. More videos can be found on Powder River’s YouTube Channel.