An article from the Star-Tribune of Casper, Wyoming dated July 10, 1994 BIG PINEY CRITICIZES LAW ENFORCEMENT Town says officers overzealous during Rainbow gathering Big Piney - Some Big Piney residents, including the mayor, say law enforcement officers were a bit overzealous in issuing citations during the counterculture Rainbow Family gathering. The Rainbows are a loose collection of hippies, drifters and others who gather annually around Independance Day. This year, a U.S. Forest Service site 25 miles west of Big Piney was selected and the gathering peaked at nearly 14,000 members. Law enforcement was beefed up in western Wyoming for the gathering. And while officers defended their actions, Dr. David Burnett and some other residents said police harrassed locals and rainbows alike to "justify their existence." Mayor John Ball said he passed three vehicles stopped by police on Highway 350 when a Wyoming Highway Patrol car started tailgating him for five miles. "At 55 mph, (the WHP) was only 30 feet behind me," Ball said. "I think he was trying to make me make a mistake. If an antelope had run out and I'd hit the brakes, he'd have ended up inside my truck." Ball said that when he slowed down, the patrol vehicle passed and stopped the vehicle ahead of him. "The guy wasn't doing anything," Ball said. The Big Piney Roundup reported that it polled about 20 local people and nearly all said the law enforcement presence was annoying or created an air of intimidation and harassment. Highway Patrol Sgt. Mike Dayton, a commander of the squad assigned to the gathering, said there was no truth to rumors that the WHP had a quota to issue 500 traffic citations during the Rainbow's stay. "We knew right up front we'd have some complaints and some unhappy people," he said. "If you put extra patrolmen in an area, you'll have extra violations detected." Still, Dayton estimated 200 citations were issued the first week. "We are not doing any punitive enforcement on either Rainbows or local people," Dayton added. "The instructions to the patrolmen ... was they work exactly ... as if they were at home."