Even though Charley Hendren grew up in Kansas, raised his family in Texas and had never been to Wyoming until the late 1980s, he always knew he wanted to move to Wyoming and be buried there.

In one of his many poems, the cowboy preacher, poet and musician wrote, "Won't you stand by my side and promise me that you'll bury me in Wyoming when I die."

His family and friends honored their promise to Hendren when they buried him in Douglas, Aug. 19 after he died at the age of 58 from a brain tumor.

"When asked if he had grown up in Wyoming, Charley would answer, 'No, but I got here as quick as I could,'" said Fronie Hendren, his wife of almost 38 years. "He loved the mountains and loved Wyoming. He's always saying listen to the quiet."

Hendren was born in Kansas on Aug. 21, 1947 and met his wife, obtained a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and became a police officer there. He then lived in Texas with his wife, daughter Kim and son Rick.

In 1993, Hendren finally got the chance he had been waiting for, a chance to move to Wyoming and accept the position of police chief of Sheridan. Later, he became an instructor at the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy in Douglas. It was also in 1993 that he began to actively pursue the life of a cowboy preacher.

Hendren had always had a passion for the Lord as well as playing the guitar and writing poetry, but his son Rick Hendren said "it kind of took off" when his father moved to Wyoming.

During this time, he wrote three cowboy poetry books and created two C.D.'s full of his music and poetry. He traveled around the country preaching with a cowboy flare.

Darrell Morehouse, a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Casper and a good friend of Hendren's, said a "cowboy flare" meant using a symbol like rounding up cattle instead of God calling his people. In Hendren's preaching, a chuck wagon symbolized heaven.

"He would catch the attention of someone who loved the West," Morehouse said. "Then he would bring in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ."

He traveled widely, preaching the Gospels. His wife said it was especially fun when Hendren traveled to Chicago or the East Coast, because the people there were not as familiar with the Western lifestyle.

"Kids would just be drawn to his handle-bar mustache," Fronie Hendren said.

Dave Harris, director of the law enforcement academy in Douglas, said students were drawn to Hendren because of his quick wit.

"He was very active in the lecture halls," Harris said. "He left a lasting impression on the students and his ways of entertaining carried over into the classroom."

Roy Phillips, a pastor at the Douglas Baptist Church where Hendren was a deacon, said Hendren was thinking about giving up his job at the academy to pursue a cowboy ministry full-time. Phillips said there was just such a high demand for Hendren's preaching.

The Douglas Baptist Church is in the process of building a new church, and Phillips said Hendren was very involved in the expansion until he got sick. Even after a third brain tumor was found in May and Hendren was having trouble speaking, he came to help with the church.

"We have lost a very important part of our church," Phillips said. "It sure has left a big hole here."