Wyoming State History

In addition to the captivating scenery and wildlife, Wyoming has a varied and colorful history.

Native Americans in Wyoming

Prehistoric Occupation
There is evidence of more than 12,000 years of prehistoric occupation in Wyoming. Among these groups were Clovis, Folsom, and Eden Valley. The latter were the big game hunters of the Early period. Following these, and remaining until about 500 A.D., were many groups with a mixed hunting and gathering economy. These were followed by the predecessors of the historic Indians.

The Medicine Wheel
On the crest of Medicine Mountain, 40 miles east of Lovell, Wyoming, is located the Medicine Wheel which has 28 spokes and a circumference of 245 feet. This was an ancient shrine built of stone by the hands of some forgotten tribe. A Crow chief has been reputed as saying, "It was built before the light came by people who had no iron." This prehistoric relic remains one of Wyoming's unsolved puzzles.

Spanish Diggings
Southwest of Lusk, covering an area of 400 square miles, is the remains of prehistoric stone quarries known as the "Spanish Diggings." Here is mute evidence of strenuous labor performed by many prehistoric groups at different times. Quartzite, jasper and agate were mined. Artifacts of this Wyoming material have been found as far away as the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys.

Plains Indians
The Native Americans in Wyoming were nomadic tribes known as the Plains Indians. They were the Arapaho, Arikara, Bannock, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Crow, Gros Ventre, Kiowa, Nez Perce, Sheep Eater, Sioux, Shoshone and Ute tribes. Of all of these tribes, the Cheyenne and Sioux were the last of the Native Americans to be controlled and placed on reservations.

There is one Indian reservation in Wyoming, the Wind River Reservation, with headquarters at Fort Washakie. The reservation is the home of some 2,357 Shoshone and 3,501 Arapaho Indians. The total acreage of the reservation is 1,888,334, exclusive of lands owned by the Bureau of Reclamation and other patented lands within the exterior boundaries.

Honored Native Americans
Sacajawea, a female Shoshone guide for the Lewis and Clark Expedition, is buried west of Fort Washakie.
The grave of Chief Washakie is located in the old military cemetery in town. The popular chief lived on the reservation until his death in 1900 at the age of 102. He was buried with military honors – the first ever given an Indian chief.

A Continuation of the Old West

Early Exploration and Settlement
One of the earliest explorers of Wyoming was John Colter in 1807. While exploring the Rocky Mountains, he discovered a region of steaming geysers and towering water falls so unusual that his written reports nicknamed the area "Colter's Hell." The same area, in 1872, was set aside forever as a place to be enjoyed by everyone. It became known as Yellowstone, the world's first National Park.

Wyoming owes its early settlement in part to the gentlemen of Europe. Their fondness of beaver top hats sent early-day trappers to the Rocky Mountains in search of the prized pelts. Famous mountain men such as Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, Davey Jackson and Jedediah Smith were among the trappers, explorers and traders to first roam the Wyoming territory.

Gold in California and the lure of rich land in Oregon brought increasing numbers of pioneer wagon trains rolling over the Oregon Trails through Wyoming. Pony soldiers came to protect the wagon trains from hostile Indians, and the soldiers established forts along the trails.

The most important of the western military posts was Ft. Laramie in southeastern Wyoming. Ft. Laramie became a haven for gold seekers and weary emigrants. It was also an important station for the Pony Express and the Overland stagecoaches, and it served as a vital military post in the wars with the Plains Indians.

Great herds of buffalo once grazed on the rolling hills of Wyoming, giving rise to one of the state's best-known citizens, William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. Today in the town he founded, Cody, near Yellowstone National Park, is an enormous museum dedicated to Buffalo Bill and the West he loved and helped settle.

The Equality State

Wyoming is also known as the "Equality State" because of the rights women have traditionally enjoyed here. Wyoming women were the first in the nation to vote, serve on juries and hold public office.

In 1869, Wyoming's territorial legislature became the first government in the world to grant "female suffrage" by enacting a bill granting Wyoming women the right to vote.

Less than three months after the signing of that act, on February 17, 1870, the "Mother of Women Suffrage in Wyoming"-Ester Hobart Morris of South Pass City-became the first woman ever to be appointed a justice of the peace.

Laramie was also the site for the first equal suffrage vote cast in the nation by a woman-Mrs. Louisa Swain on September 6, 1870.
In 1894, Estelle Reel (Mrs. Cort F. Meyer) became one of the first women in the United States elected to a state office, that of Wyoming State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

In 1924, Mrs. Nellie Tayloe Ross was the first elected woman governor to take office in the United States. Mrs. Ross went on to become the first woman to be appointed Director of the United States Mint-a position she held for 20 years, from 1933 to 1953.

In 1991, women held three of the state's five top elective positions and 23 women hold seats in the Wyoming Legislature, three in the Senate and 20 in the House.

Becoming a State

Bills for Wyoming statehood were introduced in both the U.S. Senate and House in December 1889. The House passed the bill March 27, 1890. President Benjamin Harrison signed Wyoming's statehood bill, making Wyoming the 44th state.

Historic Sites

Oregon Trail Ruts - Located near Guernsey, the "signature ruts" provide a vivid physical reminder of the old Oregon Trail. Here, thousands of wagon wheels and oxen hooves passed during the emigration period of the mid-1800s, gradually grinding the deep ruts into a layer of soft sandstone.

Independence Rock - Fifty miles southwest of Casper, Independence Rock was a well-known landmark on the Oregon Trail. Father Peter DeSmet called it "the great registry of the desert," since thousands of westbound emigrants scratched their names on its surfaces. The rock is now home to Wyoming's Centennial Acre.

Ft. Bridger - In the summer of 1842, Mountain Man Jim Bridger announced he was building a trading post, "...in the road of the emigrants on Black's Fork of Green River." From its beginnings as a log and mud trading post, Bridger's "fort" matured into a modern frontier military post. It later evolved into the town of Fort Bridger, the only town in Wyoming with direct roots to the earliest days of the Oregon Trail.

Ft. Caspar - This military post evolved from previous sites know as Mormon Ferry Post and, after Louis Guinard spanned the North Platte River with a 1,000-foot log bridge in 1859, Platte Bridge Station.

Ft. Laramie - The most significant outpost on the Oregon Trail system was established as a trading post in 1834 by fur traders William Sublette and Robert Campbell. The U.S. military purchased the Fort in 1849 as a base to protect and supply the growing emigration on the trails. It later became a major link in the Pony Express, Overland Stage Line and the transcontinental telegraph systems and served as a base of operations for the High Plains Indian Wars.

Ft. Phil Kearny - This Fort and the nearby sites of the Wagon Box and Fetterman Fight are located in an area, which saw some of the most dramatic incidents in the history of the Indian Wars.

Ft. Fred Steele - Established to protect crews working on the transcontinental railroad, the fort later played an important role in protection of local settlers and the railroad tie industry.

Wyoming Territorial Prison - The prison was built in 1872 to house federal convicts in newly formed Wyoming Territory. Located in Laramie, the building now serves as a museum presenting details of Wyoming's western past.