Have You Seen Wyoming’s Primordial Soup Bowl?
Well you may find yourself at the Home of the Primordial Soup Bowl.
And you may ask yourself, “Well, how did I get here?”
“Letting the days go by…”🎵 (Talking Heads).
Drive about 95 miles out of Casper on U.S. 287 and you’ll see it.
You’ll pass Alcova and Pathfinder Reservoir along the way before taking a roger at Muddy Gap.
If you blink, you’ll miss your turn. And there’s limited service. So don’t blink. Lest you get lost.
Pretty soon you’ll find yourself in Jeffrey City, an old uranium mining Boom Town—a relic of “boom & bust” culture.
What once housed thousands now houses less than 100. One of those residents is none other than Byron T. Seeley, the owner of Monk King Bird Pottery
A curious woman stops to chat, jazz music is playing in the background. An artist sits on a camp chair looking out the window, watching cars go by.
The woman leaves with two small cups. Cash only—no cards—but Seeley says he sends many people on their way with pottery and a stamped envelope with his address.
There aren't any primordial soup dishes in stock. Seeley says they sell out fast, but he is in the process of firing more.
His inspiration comes from Darwin, whose theory—hence the Primordial Soup Dish—believes life began in a warm little pond filled with inorganic chemicals that became complex in nature.
The artist (who hails from Big Piney) lived in Texas, New Mexico, and Lander, but he’s called Jeffrey City home for the last 15 years because the price is incredibly low.
“If you want to go to a thrift shop or a coffee shop or something, it’s going to be an hour,” he explained. Most of the time he works on new art, which he sells out of his workshop along the highway.
Business isn't always busy. "The wind keeps people away," he adds, but he and his dog Floyd don't seem to mind.
There's a gas station, a bar, and less than 40 other inhabitants.
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