The danger of dynamite was well-known to the men who used the explosives in their search for minerals in the remote mountains of Wyoming. One cow discovered just how dangerous these sticks are after dining on them for lunch.

It was 1907 and the town of Birdseye, Wyoming, had been founded on a steep pass amid a copper and gold rush. This fledging town was just a few miles north of Shoshoni and far from the modern conveniences of the day.  

More than 500 claims had been made, and more than 2,000 men flooded the region. Even Wyoming Gov. Bryant Brooks took notice and said it was going to be one of the greatest gold rushes the century had ever seen.

Not all these entrepreneurs were miners, either.

Within one season, town lots were being sold and homes built in Birdseye. The town boasted a boarding house, hotels, saloons, restaurant, blacksmith shop, livery stable, assay office and a newspaper.