John Buxton

On September 14, 1919, Rock Springs Deputy Game Warden John Buxton received a report of some shooting north of Rock Springs. He responded to the call, accompanied by his pregnant wife.

At the scene, Warden Buxton located two subjects who were identified as Joe Omeye and John Kolman. Warden Buxton advised Mr. Omeye that hunting season was over and took his rifle away from him. As John Buxton returned to his vehicle, suspect Omeye yelled at him. As Buxton turned to face him, Omeye shot the warden in the stomach with a handgun that he had concealed under his coat.

Warden Buxton staggered to his car, calling for his wife to bring him his gun. Omeye then shot at Mrs. Buxton, luckily missing her. She then went for help. Upon returning, John was loaded into the car to be transported to the hospital. John Buxton died before reaching medical help.

Joe Omeye was later apprehended by Sweetwater County Sheriff John Stoddard and another deputy. He was convicted of 2nd degree murder and sentenced to not less than 20 nor more than 21 years in the state penitentiary on March 17, 1920. Omeye was paroled on December 22, 1924, but after a parole violation was returned to the penitentiary. He was released again on December 16, 1931.

Bill Lakanen & Don Simpson

On Wednesday, October 31, 1945 Deputy Game Wardens Bill Lakanen and Don Simpson went to Nugget Gulch in the Sierra Madre Mountains southwest of Rawlins to check on activity of a man who lived in this remote area. The man, John Malten had been previously convicted of illegally possessing beaver pelts and had served time in the Carbon County jail.

Although the truth of what actually happened may never be known, the evidence gathered at the scene points to the following events.

When the two game wardens arrived at Malten’s cabin, the suspect opened the door and started shooting at them without warning. Bill Lakanen was shot once in the head with a .22 caliber rifle while he was still seated behind the steering wheel of the truck. It appears Don Simpson managed to exit the truck and return fire at Malten. Game warden Simpson was shot twice in the abdomen with .22 caliber bullets. At some point, Don Simpson attempted to gain the safety of surrounding trees, but did not make it. When Malten reached the fallen officer, he found him still alive and shot him through the head with Simpson’s own .38 caliber revolver. Then Malten dragged Simpson’s body back to the truck. After Malten had removed Lakanen’s body from the truck, wood was piled around both officers’ bodies. Gas was poured over the bodies, the wood and the truck, but for some reason, they were never set afire.

This was the scene that searchers found two days later, after the two wardens failed to return home. Also, Malten’s cabin had been burned to the ground. A check of the cabin’s ashes turned up several items which indicated John Malten had been burned in the cabin fire. This fact was never fully verified however, John Malten was never seen or heard from again.

Charles Calvert

Shoshoni Deputy Game Warden Charles Calvert died on January 26, 1965. He was assisting other game wardens in moving a herd of elk in the East Fork of the Wind River, northeast of Dubois. While attempting to start his snow machine, Warden Calvert died of a sudden heart attack.

Francis Gradert

Cheyenne Deputy Game Warden Francis Gradert died on April 24, 1973. Warden Gradert was live trapping a beaver on Crow Creek, south of Cheyenne. After the beaver was trapped, Warden Gradert pulled the trap to his truck. While inspecting the beaver for injuries, Warden Gradert died of a sudden heart attack.

Cliff Stevens

Casper Damage Control Warden Cliff Stevens and his wife Joyce were both killed June 24, 1983 in a head-on collision near Riverton. Warden Stevens was hauling empty fish tanks with a department semi and swerved to avoid a vehicle stopped in the lane of traffic. Wyoming Highway Patrolman Levar Olsen received burns to his hands while attempting to get the victims out of the burning vehicles.

Kirk Inberg

Game Warden Kirk Inberg was killed in a plane crash on October 16, 1991 while performing Grizzly Bear radio monitoring in the Dubois area.

Kay Bowles

Dubois Game Warden Kay Bowles was snowmobiling on a Bighorn Sheep winter census near Brooks Lake above Dubois and died of a sudden heart attack on Feburary 20, 1992.

These Wyoming Officers are listed at the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy in Douglas on the Officer Memorial. They are also memorialized in stone at the North American Wildlife Enforcement Officers Museum at the International Peace Gardens on the United States/Canadian border.