Wells reflects on races

For a few years in the late '40s and early '50s, Wind River Canyon was more than just a scenic spot for fishing. It was home to the annual Memorial Day Wind River Canyon boat race, with competitors braving a 12-mile stretch of white water. Among them was John Wells.

Wells, who lived at Timberline Ranch north of Dubois for 89 years except for the three years he was in the Navy during World War II, noted his grandmother lived here for a short time, and they had the races for three or four years beginning in 1948.

Wells was approached by Dorothy Milek, who described him as "tall, dark and handsome," to speak about his experience in the races. As to what he used for boats, Wells said, "I built various things and used them." In particular, he used the belly tank of a P-38 airplane.

The races began as a promotion by the town to bring in people, he said, and it certainly worked as 3,000 to 4,000 people lined the roads along the canyon to watch the competitors. Some would capsize within the first few miles, while others continued to face the rapids and the chance for the $1,000 first place prize.

As to why the races aren't done any more, Wells said, "The minute the dam was put in, that's the end of it. It was high water that was tough. You put a dam in, it cools the water down, and so you don't have a race. You have a fishing pond."

Because of his involvement with the races, Wells was contacted by MGM. He went out to Culver City, Calif., and the studio gave him a contract as a stuntman. As he was regarded as one of the top canoe experts in Wyoming, Wells worked on films such as 'White Madness," "The Wild North" and "The Blue Horizon."

Wells said he was doing real well in California for about three to four months, even having his own limousine and chauffeur, when his wife Barbara called and told him to come home or she was going home to her mother. "The next day, I went back home," Wells said with a laugh. "It was the end of my career."

Regarding his movie work, he added he didn't pay much attention to what movies he was working on as he did "pieces of everything, and it goes in different movies." He recalled in one stunt he had to pull a horse down in front of 500-600 head of cattle that were coming his way.

As to how he came to Thermopolis, Wells said the ranch he had been on his whole life is 4,000 feet higher than Thermopolis. His lungs had gone bad, so he came to Thermop and purchased a home. He soon found out he couldn't live alone so he went to the Wyoming Pioneer Home. He still has the house in town. He enjoys the hot water in Thermopolis and noted the people are nice.

Wells also has an operative uranium mine with 130 employees, 20 miles south of Jeffrey City, where they are producing about 1 millions pounds per year.

He explained he had the claims, and Ur-Energy agreed to raise the $100 million for the mill, so the two went together and Wells got the overriding stock. He further noted there is enough ore there to continue operation for 20 years.

The mine utilizes in-situ leeching, which involves dissolving uranium from sandstone deposits and pumping the solution to the surface. The solution is later processed into yellowcake.

Wells pointed out this system does not tear up the ground, and the ore body itself is down about 1,000 feet.