Name: Central Wyoming Railroads
Brand: Con Trumbull
SKU: 9781467107006
Price: 23.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Central Wyoming Railroads

9781467107006

$23.99

Starting with the great migration along the Oregon Trail in the 1840s, central Wyoming has long been a transportation corridor of the western United States. Railroad tracks first worked their way into the region in 1886 with the arrival of the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad, building westward from Douglas to Lander. In 1913, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, after successfully building through the Wind River Canyon, began construction south and east through Casper to connect with its existing line at Orin Junction. Connecting central Wyoming to the outside world brought goods and people and allowed for the development of the oil fields, agriculture, industry, and tourism.

Cover image for Central Wyoming Railroads, isbn: 9781467107006

The Wyoming Bomber Crash of 1943

9781467158992

$24.99

Bomber Mountain's Namesake Tragedy

June 1943 saw forty-one heavy bombers lost within the continental United States, including a B-17 that went missing over Wyoming late during the night of June 28. That aircraft had ten young men on board destined for World War II. They had been ordered overseas to participate in the intense and constant bombing raids being conducted in Europe, but they never made it out of America. Two years later, area cowboys discovered the wreckage strewn across an otherwise picturesque landscape. U.S. Air Corps Captain Kenneth G. Hamm noted in his personal diary, “The plane was so completely demolished that we were almost on top of it before we saw it.” Author Sylvia A. Bruner shares the stories of the men who lost their lives deep in the Bighorn Mountains and recounts the events of the crash, search and U.S. Air Corps accident investigation.

Cover image for The Wyoming Bomber Crash of 1943, isbn: 9781467158992

Laramie Railroads

9781467130837

$24.99

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.

Cover image for Laramie Railroads, isbn: 9781467130837

The Wyoming Blizzard of 1949

9781625859358

$23.99

Snow, wind and frigid temperatures devastated parts of Wyoming and neighboring states in 1949. For nearly two months, towns and ranches were marooned by enormous drifts, some reportedly eighty feet tall. The storm stranded hundreds of motorists on the highways and stalled nearly two dozen trains at depots throughout the state. Communities pulled together to assist not only their neighbors but also anyone unable to escape the snowstorm. The deaths of motorists and livestock weighed heavily on the minds of Americans as news spread nationwide. Author and historian James Fuller recounts these harrowing stories of tenacity and fortitude.

Cover image for The Wyoming Blizzard of 1949, isbn: 9781625859358

Yellowstone National Park

9780738575032

$24.99

Yellowstone National Park is a visionary gift that was bestowed upon the world on March 1, 1872. On that day, Pres. Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill that created the world's first national park. Filled with natural wonders and inspiring scenery, it is home to some of America's rarest and wildest species. Its natural appeal is enhanced by the thrilling display of wildlife living within the park boundaries. More than three million visitors a year pass through the park's portals and enter "Wonderland."

Postcard History Series cover for Yellowstone National Park showing a sepia photo of a historic lodge and geyser.

On This Day in Wyoming History

9781626192232

$14.99

Wyoming might be known as the least populous state, but this land of mountains and prairies is home to enough history to provide an entertaining footnote for each day of the year. On September 6, 1870, Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote, and on March 1, 1872, Yellowstone became the world's first National Park. JCPenney opened its doors in Kemmerer on April 14, 1902, while May 1, 1883, marks Buffalo Bill Cody's very first Wild West Show. Join Pat Holscher on a day-by-day look at some of the Equality State's most fascinating factoids.

Cover image for On This Day in Wyoming History, isbn: 9781626192232

Wyoming's Friendly Skies

9781467147637

$21.99

Boeing Air Transport, a precursor of United Air Lines, began carrying passengers in 1927 on small, uncomfortable airplanes with few amenities. Steve Stimpson, manager of Boeing’s San Francisco office, considered hiring stewards to alleviate passengers’ concerns. Ellen Church convinced him that employing women, especially nurses, as stewardesses would be a visionary solution. Eight brave young women entered Boeing’s brief training program in Cheyenne in May 1930, making them the first airline stewardesses in the world. In 1947, United Air Lines established its Stewardess Training Center in Cheyenne, operating for nearly two decades. Authors Starley Talbott and Michael Kassel celebrate the world’s first stewardesses, as well as the thousands who followed in their footsteps.

Cover image for Wyoming's Friendly Skies, isbn: 9781467147637

A History Lover's Guide to Cheyenne

9781467149525

$21.99

Celebrating at their encampment near Crow Creek on July 4, 1867, railroad surveyors named the settlement after the local Cheyenne tribe. By the time the Union Pacific Railroad arrived in November, the town had grown from a tent city to a "Hell on Wheels" town of ten thousand souls. Cattle barons brought herds to graze the open range, while they reposed in mansions on Millionaires Row. By 1890, the gleaming dome of the new capitol building was visible all the way down Capitol Avenue to the majestic Union Pacific Railroad Depot. Authors Starley Talbott and Michael Kassel explore a rich past, including the origins of the F.E. Warren Air Force Base, the foundation of the world's largest outdoor rodeo and the unheralded history of early aviation that eclipsed Denver.

Cheyenne

9781467109963

$23.99

Cheyenne, Wyoming, was founded in 1867 and is young compared to cities on the Eastern Seaboard. Cheyenne exists because of the expansion of railroads from coast to coast, and although it was originally a tent city, solid structures began to appear as people settled in the area. It was wild and lawless in the beginning, but with the introduction of the cattle industry, it became a wealthy and refined community.

Cheyenne book cover featuring historic downtown storefronts and authors Jill Pope and Brady Brinton

Japanese in Wyoming

9781467155120

$24.99

Immigration in the Equality State

Long before Heart Mountain Internment Camp brought Japanese prisoners to Wyoming, an immigrant work force put down lasting roots. Beginning in 1892, Japanese came to toil on Union Pacific's railroad and coal mines. But they weren't warmly welcomed. Newspapers charged every Japanese section worker was secret Japanese Army. Allegedly, "600 Japs in Utah, [and] about 400 in Wyoming and probably 100 in Colorado," were ready to serve Japan during the Japanese Russo War. George Wakimoto said the number was closer to six. Such misinformation about Japanese laborers spawned violence against Asians. The citizens of Evanston tried to blow them up. Rawlins ran the Japanese out of town. And in Laramie, young boys threw stones and dragged a Japanese man through the street. Author Dan Lyon chronicles Japanese perseverance, before and after both world wars, in their adopted state.

Book cover Japanese in Wyoming featuring Japanese immigrants on a raised platform and workers along railroad tracks.

History of the Wyoming Capitol, A

9781467141611

$21.99

The History within a National Landmark

Prior to Wyoming becoming the forty-fourth state in the Union on July 10, 1890, the territorial legislature passed a bill authorizing the construction of a capitol at a maximum cost of $150,000. Governor Warren signed the bill on March 4, 1886, and appointed the Capitol Building Commission, which purchased a site on Hill Street, now Capitol Avenue, at a cost of $13,100. Many changes have occurred since the 1887 laying of the cornerstone. Recent renovations upgraded the capitol’s Classical style and striking gold-leaf dome. The most important room, where women’s right to vote began, has been restored to its original grandeur.

Authors Starley Talbott and Linda Graves Fabian celebrate these and other historic firsts in this history of the state capitol building.

Cover image for History of the Wyoming Capitol, A, isbn: 9781467141611

On Fly-Fishing the Wind River Range

9781467140430

$21.99

With remote waterways and unpressured trout, Wyoming's Wind River Range is the backcountry fly angler's mecca.

In the alpine lakes and streams, trout may approach a dry fly two or more at a time, and an angler can cast for days without seeing another person, let alone another angler. But more than just a place to catch lots of fish, the range is also a place to disconnect from noise and networks and reconnect with oneself. In a series of essays on misfortunate father-and-son backpacking trips, disaffected Boy Scouts, psychotropic deep-woods epiphanies and many other topics, author Chadd VanZanten offers not only a survey of the fishing and history of the Wind Rivers but a tour of personal landscapes as well.

Cover image for On Fly-Fishing the Wind River Range, isbn: 9781467140430

Haunted Cheyenne

9781626191587

$21.99

In 1867, at the spot where the Union Pacific Railroad crossed Crow Creek, the city of Cheyenne was born. Since then, the Magic City of the Plains has had a long history of hauntings. Drop into the Shadows Pub and Grill, and you may find yourself sharing a drink with a spectral patron from another era. Spend a night at the Historic Plains Hotel, and you may run into one of the many ghostly guests who refuse to check out. Even the Wrangler store seems to be home to a phantom cowboy. From the ghosts of the historic Depot and Rail Yard to the spirits that still linger in some of the city's private homes, this frontier town is filled with spooky happenings and chilling sightings. Join writer and guide Jill Pope on a tour of the stories behind this city's most chilling spots.

Cover image for Haunted Cheyenne, isbn: 9781626191587

The Girl Guards of Wyoming

9781467140751

$21.99

Resurrecting the legend of Wyoming's Forgotten Female Militia

In the summer of 1890, an army of teenage women with swords drawn and rifles at the ready marched resolutely toward the state capitol to deliver a message to Governor Francis E. Warren and the nation: women want equal rights. As Company K walked alongside women’s suffrage pioneer Esther Morris, one could hear the rhythm of their feet keeping step in perfect cadence. Western history remembers murderers, outlaws, prostitutes and saloon girls but not the famous Girl Guards, whose military precision rivaled that of West Point cadets.

Author Dan J. Lyon offers the definitive and evocative account of the young women warriors who defined the Equality State.

Cover image for The Girl Guards of Wyoming, isbn: 9781467140751

Cheyenne's Capitol Avenue Bronze

9781467157612

$24.99

Casting the Cowboy State’s Past

Wyoming’s history is enshrined in the bronze sculptures lining Capitol Avenue and across Cheyenne. The idea, conceived only a decade prior, rapidly grew into the most successful public arts project in city history. Inspired by and committed to preserving the history of the state, private citizens donated bronze sculptures depicting important figures and contributions. Tribal leaders, explorers and governors are represented. The contributions of architects, artists and suffragettes are celebrated. And dedication to service in politics, agriculture and the military are honored. Authors Starley Talbott and Michael Kassel explore the state’s rich past cast in bronze.

Cover image for Cheyenne's Capitol Avenue Bronze, isbn: 9781467157612

Wyoming Airmail Pioneers

9781625858641

$21.99

The story of the United States Transcontinental Air Mail Service, the first of its kind in the world, is one of romanticism and danger. Through calm or storm, in light or dark, a contingent of courageous couriers relayed the public mail across three thousand miles in less than a day and a half--faster than ever before. Though the U.S. Air Mail Service began on the East Coast, some of the frontier tales of the route through the Rocky Mountains were lost. The western leg of the airmail service from Chicago to San Francisco included the Mountain Division, headquartered in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The route through Wyoming, considered the most treacherous, provided harrowing tales of the pilots who risked their lives. Authors Starley Talbott and Michael Kassel lionize these folk heroes, aviation legends and icons of western history.

Cover image for Wyoming Airmail Pioneers, isbn: 9781625858641

Legendary Locals of Rawlins

9781467101752

$24.99

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.

Legendary Locals of Rawlins book cover with a collage of historical portraits.

Lost Coal District of Gebo, Crosby and Kirby

9781467156462

$24.99

Forging America’s Fuel

Henry Cottle registered the first mining claim in what would become northern Hot Springs County in the late 1880s. Henry Monro and Frank Porter’s Cedar Mountain “Cowboy Mine” followed in 1898. In 1906, Burlington Railroad built its southbound line from Billings, Montana to Frannie and Worland, Wyoming. The route was, in no small part, because of the quality and quantity of coal near Kirby. With a rail contract for a twenty-mile extension, Mormon pioneer Jesse W. Crosby, Jr. filed his mining claim in 1910. Naturally, more entrepreneurs followed, including Samuel Gebo. The coal camps of Gebo and Crosby were born, forming a significant coal district that nurtured a true melting pot of nationalities. Author Lea Cavalli Schoenewald recounts the area’s heyday and the lives that powered its development.

Cover image for Lost Coal District of Gebo, Crosby and Kirby, isbn: 9781467156462

Lost Forts of Casper

9781467119221

$21.99

Three army outposts built before and during the Civil War protected critical routes along the western trails at the North Platte River near what later became Casper. All had been abandoned by 1867, and their dramatic stories are mostly forgotten. The Post at Platte Bridge was a vital outpost on Albert Sidney Johnston's Utah War supply route. Camp Dodge and Platte Bridge Station, also called Fort Caspar, guarded telegraph lines from Native American sabotage. Violent winds, horrendous blizzards and scorching summers made life miserable. Tension reached a fever pitch at the Battle of Platte Bridge when Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho attacked a cavalry detachment led by Caspar Collins. Today, a reconstructed Fort Caspar stands as a vigilant reminder of the struggles at those lonely frontier stations. Local historian Johanna Wickman chronicles military efforts to keep the peace, wage war and merely survive.

Cover image for Lost Forts of Casper, isbn: 9781467119221

Campbell County

9781467106405

$24.99

Wyoming was one of the last states to be inhabited by non-native settlers. Campbell County, located in northeastern Wyoming, lacks a major body of water and so was not a primary destination for those who had headed west. The first settlements came after the early Homestead Acts, when the federal government gave out free land claims to encourage homesteaders. Another local rush occurred in the 1970s, when dozens of commercial coal mines opened and began hiring workers.

Campbell County book cover showing a vintage storefront with a Past & Present banner and large title.

Captain Benjamin Bonneville's Wyoming Expedition

9781467148641

$21.99

In 1832, Benjamin Bonneville led the first wagon train across the Continental Divide on the Oregon Trail. Financed by a rival of the Hudson's Bay Company, Bonneville and more than one hundred traders and trappers traveled from Fort Osage on the Missouri River, up to the Platte River and across present-day Wyoming. Washington Irving first gave the U.S. Army officer a brand by chronicling the three-year explorations in the 1837 book The Adventures of Captain Bonneville. Historians have long suspected that the captain, under the guise of commercial fur trading, was preparing for an eventual invasion of Mexico's California territory. Bonneville's 1833 report concerning his first year in the Wind River Range and beyond remained lost for almost a century before resurfacing in the 1920s. Author Jett B. Conner examines the intriguing details revealed in that historic document.

Book cover for Captain Benjamin Bonneville's Wyoming Expedition featuring three panels of frontier scenes and portraits

Along Wyoming's Historic Highway 20

9781467115988

$24.99

Highway 20 was designated a federal highway in 1926, and until the arrival of the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s it was a primary route across northern Wyoming. From the Great Plains in the east to the mountains in the west, Highway 20 passed though cities and towns that retain their frontier visages and such wonders as Hell's Half Acre, the Wind River Canyon, Natural Hot Springs, Buffalo Bill Scenic Byway, and spectacular Yellowstone National Park. Fortunately, historic Highway 20 remains almost completely intact and can be driven much as travelers did in years past. Postcard History Series: Along Wyoming's Historic Highway 20 celebrates this trip, illustrated by more than 200 vintage postcards showing the personality of the road. Not to be forgotten are the tourist courts, hotels, diners, and gas stations that made automobile travel possible.

Cover image for Along Wyoming's Historic Highway 20, isbn: 9781467115988

Wyoming's Dinosaur Discoveries

9781467134415

$24.99

Wyoming is home to some of the world's most famous dinosaurs. As early as 1872, dinosaurs were excavated, placed on railcars, and shipped east. For the past 140 years, paleontologists have scoured Wyoming to excavate tens of thousands of dinosaur bones, now displayed internationally. It was not until 1961 that a dinosaur from Wyoming was mounted and placed on display at the University of Wyoming's Geological Museum in Laramie.

Cover image for Wyoming's Dinosaur Discoveries, isbn: 9781467134415

Cody

9780738574257

$24.99

Founded in 1896 by William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and others, the town of Cody has grown considerably since the end of World War II yet retains its western way of life. Ranching, hunting, fishing, outdoor recreation opportunities, and the proximity to Yellowstone National Park continue to attract new residents and tourists alike.

CODY Then and Now book cover showing a modern street scene above a vintage building photograph

Haunted Warren Air Force Base

9781626195622

$21.99

As the oldest continuously active U.S. Air Force military installation, it's no wonder Francis E. Warren Air Force Base is one of the most haunted military bases in the nation. Rumor has it that residents keep a log of unnatural incidents, like early morning phantom maneuvers on the parade grounds. A long-deceased cavalryman refuses to leave his post, while another specter prefers to linger in the Missile Museum. Writer and guide Jill Pope offers up a chilling tour through this historic base and a look at the spooky legends and tales that surround this historic Cheyenne site.

Cover image for Haunted Warren Air Force Base, isbn: 9781626195622

Historic Lakeview Cemetery of Cheyenne

9781467153621

$23.99

Wyoming History Enshrined

Created in 1871, Lakeview Cemetery serves as a repository of local and state history. Resting in the historic grounds are eleven of Wyoming's governors, including the first woman governor in the nation. Other hallowed, eternal residents include a wild west showman, the namesake of a military base, and a famed photographer of the west. Suffragists, Japanese railroad workers, and a young range war victim are buried here too. Authors Starley Talbott and Michael Kassel explore the rich past of the famous and not-so famous citizens of Lakeview Cemetery.

Historic Lakeview Cemetery of Cheyenne collage cover with a mausoleum, a man in a carriage, a portrait, and a cemetery crowd.

University of Wyoming

9780738595993

$24.99

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.