On May 16, 1986, a man and woman entered Cokeville Elementary School in Cokeville, Wyoming, took 154 people hostage, and detonated a bomb in a first grade classroom. The only two fatalities were the perpetrators themselves, former town marshal David Young and his wife Doris Young. All hostages survived, though many were injured by burns and smoke inhalation.
In the days and weeks immediately after the event, most accounts focused on the horrors of the day. As time progressed, however, a different story emerged in this highly religious and largely Mormon community. Survivors began to tell their stories through a spiritual lens, increasingly speaking about their memories of praying silently, forming prayer circles, and seeing angels during the crisis. This narrative was perpetuated as a miracle rather than a tragedy.
These oral histories, compiled by the Wyoming State Archives, preserve the remembrances of people involved in one way or another with the Cokeville Elementary School bombing. The interviews were conducted by Mark Junge, with Sue Castaneda serving as project head.
Date of Event: May 16, 1986
Project Partners:
The original interviews are held by the Wyoming State Archives. The oral history project was called “Survivor is My Name: Voices of the Cokeville Elementary School Bombing” conducted in 2010.
