Founded as a railroad town in 1868, Rawlins was smack in the middle of the Wild West that attracted so many adventure-seekers from the East, such as Clare Espy, who rode into town alone at 12 years old and became a successful cowboy. When the town outgrew its outlaw days and was ready to be incorporated, its people chose a leader in Isaac Miller, a Danish man who exemplified the story of the American dream. Being in the first state to allow women the right to vote, Rawlins has had its share of women's firsts. Lillian Heath was Wyoming's first female physician, and Valerie Nelson is its first female railroad engineer. The boom and bust cycle of the area saw many residents come and go, but some families, like the Frances and Espys, have been here since the beginning and continue to be well respected. Rawlins is facing another boom with several incoming energy projects. While Rawlins's future is exciting, this volume takes a look at its past and the people who have made the town what it is today.
Cheyenne
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Cheyenne, known from its earliest days as the "Magic City of the Plains," sprang up almost overnight in 1867 to meet the Union Pacific Railroad's anticipated westward expansion. Named after the Cheyenne Indian tribe that lived in the area, the wild frontier settlement quickly evolved from a tent town to one of the most sophisticated cities west of the Mississippi River. Cheyenne was settled by a variety of people, including cattle barons, soldiers from nearby Fort D. A. Russell, merchants, railroad workers, prostitutes, and gamblers. Buildings such as the Cheyenne Club, the Opera House, the Inter Ocean Hotel, the mansions along Ferguson Street, and a lively downtown defined Cheyenne as a prosperous city by the early 1880s. As Wyoming's capital grew, annual events such as Frontier Days brought the legend of Cheyenne into the first two decades of the 20th century.
Fort Laramie
9780738580531
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Fort Laramie was one of the most important frontier outposts of the American West. Founded as the trading post Fort William in 1834, the fort became a U.S. military post in 1849. Beginning in 1841, emigrants stopped at Fort Laramie while traveling the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails. Fort Laramie served as a gathering place for thousands of Native Americans and hosted the 1851 and 1868 treaty councils. When the treaties failed, the post became the staging area for campaigns that eventually led to the tribes's confinement on reservations. Fort Laramie was abandoned by the military in 1890; the buildings were auctioned and served private interests during the homestead period from 1890 to 1937. Fort Laramie was acquired by the state of Wyoming in 1937, and the fort became a unit of the National Park System in 1938. Fort Laramie National Historic Site is open daily except New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The restoration of many structures to their historical appearance provides visitors with a glimpse of the past.
Douglas
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The town of Douglas is located in east-central Wyoming in a gentle valley, with the mountains of Medicine Bow National Forest on one side and the beautiful Wyoming plains on the other. Established in 1887 by the Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley Railroad, the town was named by representatives from the railroad's Chicago headquarters after the great orator and Illinois senator Stephen Douglas. Douglas, probably known best for his part in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, was an enthusiastic advocate of westward expansion. To many of the locals--and by official proclamation in 1985--Douglas is considered the "Home of the Jackalope," an animal well known in American folklore as being part antelope and part jackrabbit. Be it fact or fiction, the town has successfully marketed the Jackalope through festivals, souvenirs, and even hunting licenses. The area is rich in history, from military establishments, immigrant trails, ranching, and homesteading, to its beautiful scenery, such as the Ayres Natural Bridge, depicted on the cover.
Rock Springs
9780738556420
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An ancient inland sea, surrounded by lush vegetation and inhabited by dinosaurs, helped create the mineral-rich landscape where Rock Springs, Wyoming, now sits. French trappers first encountered American Indians who were traveling via a natural corridor that traverses the region, and eventually pioneer trails used this same route in the great westward expansion. The First Transcontinental Railroad arrived in 1868, and the national demand for energy in the form of fossil fuels turned everyone's attention to the vast coal deposits. Thus the frontier outpost of Rock Springs became an important energy center, and immigrants from around the world came to work in the mines and make this land their home. As local businessman Leonard Hay used to say, "All wealth comes from the earth." Today other minerals have joined coal as new sources of wealth for Rock Springs, and plans are being made to harness the wind that carved out this unique landscape.
Evanston
9780738570273
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Since the mid-1900s, southwestern Wyoming has been a thoroughfare for travelers--along the emigrant and overland trails of the 1840s and 1850s and the Transcontinental Railroad of the 1860s, then the Lincoln Highway in the 1910s and 1920s, and today's busy Interstate 80. Born when the tracks of the Union Pacific reached this corner of Wyoming Territory in 1868, Evanston has a rich history of railroading, ranching, and mineral extraction. Over the past 150 years, the community has been home to European coal miners and Chinese laborers, railroad workers and oil-field roughnecks, cattle and sheep ranchers, business owners and entrepreneurs, and families whose roots are five generations deep. Its residents have developed a lively social life and a strong sense of identity grounded in Evanston's historic downtown and the surrounding landscape of the Bear River and the Uinta Mountains. In the 21st century, Evanston has become a regional model for historic preservation, ensuring that its past will survive into the future.
Grand Encampment
9780738588827
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For centuries, people have come to the Grand Encampment valley to fish, hunt, and enjoy the cool mountain weather. Fur trappers and traders gave the region its name, calling it Camp le Grande. During the 1897 copper mining boom, Camp le Grande became Grand Encampment when a townsite company gave birth to the Grand Encampment Copper District. Mining brought a flood of people to the area and spawned the town of Grand Encampment. The mining boom was an economic bonanza for the region during a 10-year period from 1897 to 1908. The miners were not alone as ranchers had already patented homesteads and were raising cattle and crops prior to the discovery of copper.
Hot Springs County, Wyoming
9780738520582
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Nestled in Wyoming's Big Horn Basin, Hot Springs County has been home to ranchers, freighters, railroad men, lawmen and outlaws, coal miners and oil field hands. This book, featuring over 200 vintage photographs from the Hot Springs County Museum and the Milek family collection, tells the story of the settlement and culture of the County from 1871 to 1940. One of the last regions to be settled during the United States' 19th-century westward expansion, the springs that gave Hot Springs County its name were considered sacred by many of the native tribes of the region, including the Shoshoni and Arapaho. By 1875, white men were seeking out the healing springs as well as the ranching opportunities at the western end of the county. Along with the industrious and hardworking pioneers came the outlaws and the notorious. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were common acquaintances of county residents, especially local characters such as the mysterious Minne Brown and Tom Skinner, owner of the infamous Hole in the Wall Bar. Captured here are the businesses, mining and oil camps, lifestyles, and residents of the various towns of Hot Springs County, including Thermopolis, Gebo, Crosby, Kirby, Grass Creek, and Hamilton Dome.
Laramie Railroads
9781467130837
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On July 1, 1862, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act. This act created the Union Pacific Railroad and authorized government loans and land grants to aid in the construction of the nation's first transcontinental railroad, which would connect Omaha, Nebraska, to Sacramento, California. As the Union Pacific raced west across prairies, mountains, and basins in 1867 and 1868, the Territory of Wyoming and many of its southern towns and cities were founded, including Laramie. In 1869, the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific at Promontory Summit, Utah, and the transcontinental railroad was complete. This is the story of the railroads of Laramie, a fabled place along the Union Pacific's Overland Route.
University of Wyoming
9780738595993
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The University of Wyoming was founded in 1886, four years prior to statehood. Provisions of the 1862 Morrill Act, also known as the Land Grant College Act, allowed for the teaching of agriculture, mechanic arts, and military tactics but also included literary and scientific studies. With statehood in 1890, the constitution confirmed the establishment of the university, that all students, regardless of gender or race, could attend, and that the cost of instruction "may be as nearly free as possible." From a humble beginning in athletics, UW has excelled in football, basketball, and rodeo and has produced such notable figures as Kenny Sailors and Curt Gowdy. Statewide outreach has always been a focus, resulting in a research center in Grand Teton National Park and agricultural farms in many communities. Wyoming's economy relies heavily on the energy industry, and today, the university is a leader in energy-related education and research. Many of the photographs in Campus History Series: University of Wyoming were taken by long-serving university faculty, providing an interesting glimpse of UW's 125-year history.
The history of Fort Bridger represents a microcosm of the development of the American West. Situated in an area initially inhabited by the Shoshone people, Fort Bridger was established during a transitional phase between the fur-trade era and the period of western migration. The fort became one of the most important supply points along the nation's western trail network. Later, the post served as a bastion of civilization as one of a number of western military posts. Soldiers at the fort protected not only the lives and property of its local citizenry but also the emerging transportation and communication advancements of a nation. Following the Army's departure, a small settlement emerged at Fort Bridger, using buildings and materials from the old military garrison. Today, the fort and town remain active, in part as a respite for travelers just as it had been more than 150 years ago.
Gillette
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There is an old saying that the Powder River was "a mile wide; an inch deep; too thick to drink; too thin to plow," and yet it was fought over many times in the early settlement of northeastern Wyoming. The lure of free land attracted tough pioneer families and rowdy outlaws to the new town of Gillette. Bars and brothels competed with schools and churches for the cowboys of some of the largest cattle and sheep ranches in the state. The coal that was discovered close to the surface, which first supplied settlers through blizzards and prairie winds, now provides one-third of the nation's energy. Ranching is still important in Gillette's economy but the abundant minerals have truly put Gillette, Wyoming, on the map.
Green River
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Nestled in a valley at the confluence of the Green River and Bitter Creek, the town of Green River is situated among some of the most famous and beautiful rock formations in the West. This stunning backdrop was the jumping-off point for John Wesley Powell's famous river explorations. The city's story is intertwined with the arteries of westward expansion. The Colorado River system, the Cherokee and Overland Trails, the Union Pacific Railroad, the Lincoln Highway, the interstate highway system, and even America's first "Intergalactic Space Port" are all part of the story of Green River. After its humble start as an Overland Trail stage station, the town grew in anticipation of the arrival of the transcontinental railroad and eventually became the Sweetwater County seat. The Green River, ranching, recreation, and the chemical industry also play a part in the town's history.
Sundance
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Sundance, in the northeast corner of Wyoming, may not be the only place with that name, but it is the original Sundance--the place where the Kid got his name. There was no settlement of any sort when Crook County was created in 1875. The town was founded in 1878, named after the mountain that stands south of town where the Plains tribes held their sun dance ceremonies. Sundance is not that different from the many other small towns that sprang to life in the boom of gold, cattle, and oil throughout the West, but it is different in that it has ridden through the booms and the busts and still survives. This book contains images of people's lives as they worked and played, lived and died. It tells of those who passed through, and those who stayed and helped the community establish its roots and grow.
Lander
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Before Lander became a town, the area had already been the summer hunting grounds for numerous Native American tribes, seen a few rendezvous, and had become a freighting hub. Supplying goods for the miners in the South Pass area and goods for the cavalry and natives at Fort Washakie, the freight wagons rolled year-round. When the Lander townsite was plotted in 1880, the main road remained wide enough that a 20-hitch team could turn around. As more people settled in the area, Lander became an agricultural-based town. It was known throughout the state for its abundance of produce, hay, blooded horses, cattle, and sheep. But it was not all work for the settlers; the Wind River Mountains also beckoned. Lander, located at the edge of the southern half of the Shoshone National Forest, became an outfitting stop for alpinists, scientists, and others seeking adventure. Once word of the vast elk and deer herds and the abundance of trout in those high mountain lakes was out, hunters and fisherman came from all over. It also did not take long for Western adventure writers to highlight that Lander was a good place for tourists who wanted to experience the romance of the west through horseback riding, camping, and mountain adventures.
Big Piney and Marbleton
9780738575889
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Big Piney and Marbleton are one mile apart, and attempts to combine the two towns have been unsuccessful. The area had been home to family-operated cattle ranches starting in 1878, and a year later Daniel B. Budd and Hugh McKay brought 1,000 cattle from Nevada and were stopped here due to the weather. Founded by Daniel, Big Piney was incorporated in a boggy area on July 5, 1913, and is the oldest settlement in Sublette County. Daniel's eldest son, Charles, had hoped to build the town up on the bench to alleviate the problem of wet land. He founded Marbleton, the newer town, which was incorporated in 1914. Big Piney has been called the "Icebox of the Nation" because it had the coldest year-round average temperature in the country when it was officially made a weather station in 1930. Cattle remain a vibrant part of the local economy, and the land has been drilled for oil since the 1920s. Both towns have known several booms and busts, typical of the energy industry.
Goshen County
9780738593029
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Either a French trapper named Goshe or the biblical Land of Goshen was responsible for the name given to Wyoming's southeast region. In 1911, the Wyoming Legislature approved a bill to create Goshen County, and it was signed by Gov. Joseph Carey. The county was extracted from Laramie County and is bordered by the state of Nebraska, as well as Platte, Laramie, and Niobrara Counties. Goshen County has blossomed from settlers passing through on the Oregon-California trail, which cut across the county, to an area that includes farming and ranching, a railroad transporting coal from the northern part of the state, and several small towns that support schools, post offices, retail entities, factories, and municipal governments. The towns of Torrington, Lingle, Fort Laramie, Hawk Springs, Yoder, LaGrange, Veteran, and Jay Em make up the county. This volume details the growth of Goshen County due to the Homestead Act of 1862, an irrigation project near Hawk Springs, and veterans from World War I who were part of a second round of homesteading.
Coal in Campbell County
9781467130172
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In his Annual Report of the Territorial Geologist to the Governor of Wyoming 1890, Louis D. Ricketts wrote, "The coal of this district has little other use than that of supplying a local market." Years later, nothing could be further from the truth. The United States uses approximately one billion tons of coal a year, with about 390 million tons coming from Campbell County, Wyoming. Since large-scale commercial coal production began in Campbell County in the mid-1970s, most coal companies have changed names, owners, and boundaries several times. To let those changes go unrecorded would be to lose the very beginning of coal in Campbell County.
Weston County
9780738595443
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Tucked in the northeast corner of Wyoming against the Black Hills is Weston County. The county has served as a gateway, byway, and way of life and living. In the beginning, it was home to dinosaurs and volcanoes. Nomadic Indians then wandered through, leaving signs of their passing, and the great Sioux Indian Nations held this land dear. Finally, the area was seen as a place to settle, since the mineral-rich land and rolling grasslands provided an economic backdrop for people to stay and build a home for their families. Today, Weston County people are as diverse as this magnificent land of rugged timber that flows into sagebrush and short-grass prairies.
Casper's Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps
9781467129084
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The Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps was founded in Casper, Wyoming, in November 1957. It was the dream of one man, Jim Jones. He believed that any kid who wanted to march with the Troopers should be afforded the chance. In 10 years, Jones took kids from Casper who had never marched before and turned them into national champions. The Troopers have played for celebrities and presidents, performed at football games and Disneyland, and marched in parades from California to New York. Drum and bugle corps have changed dramatically in the last 60 years, and the Troopers have as well. Today, the Troopers are an elite group of young people from across the country and all over the world, and they compete in Drum Corps International's World Class division.
