Filming of Carbon County’s 250 Committee’s Movie Scheduled for July

JUNE 10, 2025 |

Photo – Wyoming Semi Quincentennial Planning Task Force logo – Bigfoot99 file photo

Filming for the Carbon County 250 Committee’s documentary movie is scheduled to begin next month.

July 4th, 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence. To commemorate the occasion, Governor Mark Gordon established the Wyoming Semi Quincentennial Planning Task Force to oversee grant applications from counties and non-governmental organizations for their individual 250th celebration events.

In February, the Board of Carbon County Commissioners established the county’s own 250 committee, headed by local author Candy Moulton and museum directors Tom Mensik, Tim Nicklas, Angie Hobbs, and Lela Emmons. As well as coordinating celebrations around the county, the Committee will create a 28-minute-long film about Carbon County, titled “Journeys to 250.” The film will explore how the area was settled and why people continue to choose to live in Carbon County.

During the June 3rd Board of Commissioners meeting, 250 Committee Chairwoman Candy Moulton said the Committee has met with the film production company, Boston Productions Incorporated.

A draft script for the documentary has been approved. The film will feature interviews with Carbon County residents and include reenactments of three historically significant events.

The first reenactment will depict the 1850 Stansbury Expedition, which surveyed a potential transcontinental railroad route through Carbon County. Moulton said Commissioner John Espy has given Boston Productions Incorporated permission to film on his property.

The Stansbury Expedition, with guidance from legendary mountain man Jim Bridger, surveyed a viable route through what is now Bridger Pass. The historic expedition laid the foundation for future railroad construction in Carbon County.

The film’s second documentary reenactment will feature the two Hanna mine disasters. In 1903, a methane gas explosion in Union Pacific Coal Company Mine Number One killed 169 miners, making it Wyoming’s deadliest mining disaster.

Five years later, in 1908, another explosion in Mine Number One killed an additional 59 workers. To this day, 201 miners remain buried in the mine.

250 Committee Chairwoman Moulton said the documentary will combine the two disasters and feature first-hand accounts from Edith Birchall, whose father, brother and two uncles were lost in the 1908 mine explosion.

Mouton said the final reenactment will take place at the historic Virginian Hotel in Medicine Bow and will highlight the former Lincoln Highway. The 250 Committee Chairwoman asked anyone with a classic car, specifically Ford Model As, to contact her about being in the film.

Moulton reported that the 250 Committee has already captured B-Roll of local landscapes, made possible by photojournalist Mike McCrimmon and a Carbon County Visitors Council grant. The 250 Committee Chairwoman said the film will showcase scenes from across Carbon County.

Moulton acknowledged that the three reenactments focus on northern Carbon County. The 250 Committee Chairwoman assured the Board of Commissioners the documentary film will feature accounts from across the entire county.

In addition to its work on the documentary film, the Carbon County 250 Committee is assisting local organizations, such as libraries and schools, secure grants through the Wyoming Semi Quincentennial Planning Task Force. Moulton explained the committee has already submitted eight grant applications to the state agency, with five likely to be approved. The remaining three await state review.

Moulton criticized the state’s 250 Task Force for its lack of efficiency. The 250 Committee Chairwoman said the state task force has failed to update its website, making it difficult to ensure the county is complying with the state’s requirements.

In April, Moulton requested $10,000 in county funds to help pay for local 250th anniversary celebrations. At the June 3rd meeting, Moulton repeated her request, asking for the county to contribute lodging tax funds toward the 250 Committee. The money will be used to fund educational programs around the county.

Moulton said Carbon County is leading the way in Wyoming’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

Filming for the “Journeys to 250” documentary will begin on July 7th. Once completed, the film will be screened throughout the county, with the 250 Committee later planning to air it on television.