David Peck
Lovell Chronicle
August 3, 2006
“This is just exactly the kind of thing Cal would have loved.”
With those words, Master of Ceremonies John T. Nickle kicked off a grand ceremony Saturday dedicating and renaming the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area Visitor Center in honor and memory of former Lovell Mayor, State Senator and community leader Cal Taggart.
Culminating a two-year process that began shortly after Taggart’s death on April 21, 2004, the renaming ceremony was attended by some 225 people who packed the area near the main doors of the center.
A long list of special guests included National Park Service Regional Director Mike Snyder, Gov. Dave Freudenthal, former Wyoming Gov. and U.S. Sen. Cliff Hansen, former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson, Bighorn Canyon NRA Supt. Darrell Cook, U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas and members of the Cal Taggart family including Cal’s widow Irene, son Todd and daughter Dana Cranfill.
Also attending were Asst. Bighorn Canyon Supt. Rick Lasko, Secretary of State Joe Meyer, Sen. R. Ray Peterson, Rep. Elaine Harvey and Sen. John Barrasso of Casper as well as other elected officials including Commissioner Keith Grant, Lovell Mayor Bruce Morrison, Lovell councilmen Ferrell Mangus and Scott Allred and Powell councilman Dave Bonner.
Snyder welcomed the dignitaries and the crowd in the name of the National Park Service and noted how one or two individuals can make a difference in the preservation of a natural resource.
He said Taggart cared deeply about the Big Horn Canyon area and had a passion for the area akin to naturalist John Muir in California and others.
“He loved Big Horn Canyon and the surrounding country,” Snyder said. “He became the driving force both for the establishment of the park and for the construction of the visitor center. He set an example for others to follow.”
Gov. Freudenthal joked that it was tempting to talk about the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit and Cal’s Cadillac, and he said he got to know Taggart through his association with Gov. Ed Herschler.
Freudenthal said he received his early education in public service from Wyoming’s leaders “in those days (the 1970s),” noting, “The nature of politics was very different. They all used to talk about what was important to them and what ought to happen but mostly what was best for Wyoming, about what was the right thing to do. Cal Taggart was a great example of that.”
Freudenthal said he used to watch Herschler and “a lot of the old buffaloes” at work, then said he’d better be careful because one of the old buffaloes – Simpson – was on the program and jokingly corrected himself that he meant “intelligent, awe-inspiring leaders.”
“It was a marvelous time,” he said. “They wanted to do what was the right thing to do and not what was politically advantageous.”
The politicians would yell at each other during the day and then, “frankly, they’d play cards,” Freudenthal said, adding, “It was a remarkable time and was a time that, frankly, was probably better for the state. My career was shaped by these guys sitting around and figuring out what was best for the state of Wyoming.
“This is a lasting legacy for a kind of life and politics that hopefully will return to America. Cal was a great guy. He had a great sense of humor. It was very remarkable to watch the camaraderie and fundamental commitment for what was best for the state. It didn’t mean that they didn’t argue or disagree, but they rallied to do what was best for the state. Thank the Lord for Cal Taggart.”
Former Gov. and Sen. Cliff Hansen, who first suggested that something be done to honor Taggart’s legacy, called the late Lovell leader “a great guy” and added, “His love of Wyoming, shared by his family, never diminished. People who come here will be impressed by what Cal Taggart and his family have done.”
Simpson noted that Taggart was “always doing something for Wyoming” and lived the Rotarian motto “service before self.”
“The wonderful part of it was, he was not only tenacious, he could also be pugnacious. He was a generous, loving person, earthy and just a hell of a lot of fun. It was always Lovell and then Big Horn County, Wyoming and America.”
He said he regrets that he never did take Taggart up on his offer to take a boat trip down the canyon, although his grandfather and others floated the canyon on a log raft in 1867.
“That irritated him terribly,” Simpson said, then finished by saying, “Cal shot the canyon all of his life. He was a risk-taker, a promoter in the finest sense of the word, a patriot and a very dear friend.”
Sen. Craig Thomas, who strongly backed the effort to name the visitor center in honor of Taggart, said Taggart’s life is an example of how public service and leadership can make a difference.
“Several things so important are being recognized here,” Thomas said. “We can as citizens take the leadership to make things happen. A real strength of a democracy is people moving forward and taking leadership and causing things happen. Cal symbolized that sort of activity. He did things to cause these things to happen.”
Taggart recognized the importance of setting aside natural resources that are treasures, Thomas said, and he listed many of Taggart’s areas of service over the years. He said Taggart’s efforts were critical in the building of the visitor center, noting, “He worked to secure the location, planned the logistics, secured the funding for the project, lobbied at the local and national level for legislation, and he played a key role in the groundbreaking and the dedication.”
Nickle read letters from Sen. Mike Enzi and Rep. Barbara Cubin, and Vice President Dick Cheney also sent a letter that reads, in part, “Cal was a fine son of the State of Wyoming, and a good friend to many. His dedication to Big Horn County and the Big Horn Canyon was legendary, and there are few people who have contributed as much to this region or to our state.”
Speaking for the family, son Todd Taggart joked that it was fitting that, “on the way down here, I got picked up for speeding,” and although he didn’t get a ticket, he said it was “my way of personally honoring Dad.”
He thanked everyone for their efforts to name the center for Cal and spoke of his father’s tireless efforts to promote the community and area and of his mother’s unending support.
“From my experience, Dad was always doing some to promote the town, going to meetings, then having people over to the house, always to promote the town of Lovell. He worked shoulder to shoulder with many good people in Lovell, but my mom was always right there. She endured a lot in support of my dad’s projects.”
Irene Taggart unveiled the plaque that will be displayed at the visitor center.
Members of the Lovell LDS Stake Boy Scouts of America presented and later retired the colors. Pastor Catherine Moorehead of the Lovell United Methodist Church gave the invocation, and Taggart family friend Ed Croft gave the benediction.
The ceremony was preceded and followed by many warm reunions as old friends greeted one another. Nickle noted that Taggart’s longtime secretary, Irene Lely, was instrumental in organizing letters of support for the renaming project, and he said it was great to see in attendance Theo Huggs, a longtime Park Service employee who worked side by side for many years with Taggart in efforts to promote the Trans-park Highway, communicating often with Crow tribal leaders.
