It’s a fact that the true tales of “Wildcat” Sam Abernathy’s life are nearly beyond belief. His tall tales, however, not only push the boundaries of the truth, they bust right through them.

In short, Wyoming’s original Wild West storyteller lived Mark Twain’s famous advice to “never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”

Jackie Dorothy, tourism director for Hot Springs Travel and Tourism and a local historian, said the larger-than-life character from Wyoming’s pioneer past may not be as famous as Wild West Show founder and star Buffalo Bill Cody, but was every bit as entertaining.

Born in 1839, Abernathy died in 1928. And the time between, the way he told it, was as suspenseful and exciting as any silent film melodrama. All you had to do was ask him.