Wyoming History Guide

There is evidence of prehistoric human habitation in the region known today as the U.S state of Wyoming stretching back roughly 13,000 years. Several Native American Indian tribes lived in the Wyoming region when European trappers first arrived during the late 1700s. Some of these groups included the Cheyenne, Crow, Shoshone, Sioux, and Ute.

Even though France, Great Britain, Mexico and Spain, all made claims to parts of this land, the entire area remained Indian Teritory well into the 19th century. American exploration of the Wyoming region occurred following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was probably the first white American to enter the region in 1807. His reports of thermal activity in the Yellowstone area were considered at the time to be fictional. Robert Stuart and a party of five men returning from Astoria, Oregon discovered South Pass in 1812. The route was later followed by the Oregon Trail. In 1850, Jim Bridger located what is now known as Bridger Pass, which was later used by both the Union Pacific Railroad in 1868, and in the 20th century by Interstate 80. Bridger also explored the Yellowstone region and like Colter, most of his reports on that region of the state were considered at the time to be tall tales. During the early 19th century, trappers known as mountain men flocked to the mountains of western Wyoming in search of beaver. In 1824, the first mountain man rendezvous was held in Wyoming. The gatherings continued annually until 1840 with the majority of them held within Wyoming territory.

By the early 1840's small frontier trading posts sprang up as frequent caravans moved west along the trail. Many of those homesteaders just stopped and settled in Wyoming, and conflicts with the Native American Indians were inevitable and unavoidable. The southwestern region of present-day Wyoming was obtained by the United States in the 1846 Oregon Treaty with Great Britain. In 1869, the Wyoming Territory (including parts of the Dakota, Utah, and Idaho territories) was organized, and a governor appointed.

After the arrival of the railroad, the population began to grow steadily in the Wyoming Territory, which was established on July 25, 1868. Unlike Colorado to the south, Wyoming never experienced a rapid population boom in the 19th century from any major mineral discoveries such as gold or silver.

Inclusion of women's suffrage in the Wyoming constitution was debated in the constitutional convention, but ultimately accepted. The constitution was mostly borrowed from those of other states, but also included an article making all the water in Wyoming property of the state. Wyoming overcame the obstacles of low population and of being the only territory in the U.S. giving women the right to vote, and the United States admitted Wyoming into the Union as the 44th state on July 10, 1890.

During the early 1900s, Wyoming's population grew rapidly as areas of free land were given to settlers under the Homestead Acts. The development of irrigation allowed crops to be grown in drier parts of the state. Oil was discovered just north of Casper.

The economy increased greatly during World War II (1939-1945). Oil, coal, and meat industries prospered and continued to develop after the war. Mining of uranium ranked third in the nation by the late 1950s. Many businesses were established during the 1960s. Huge chemical plants were built near Green River and iron ore processing plants established near Sunrise and Atlantic City. The natural gas industry also expanded into the Powder River Basin.

Wyoming's towering mountains and vast plains provide spectacular scenery, grazing lands for sheep and cattle, and rich mineral deposits.

Mining, particularly oil and natural gas, is the most important industry. Wyoming has the world's largest sodium carbonate (Natrona) deposits and has the nation's second largest uranium deposits.

In 2004 Wyoming ranked second among the states in wool production (exceeded only by Texas) and third in sheep and lambs (exceeded only by Texas and California); it also had 1,400,000 cattle. Principal crops include wheat, oats, sugar beets, corn, barley, and alfalfa.

Wyoming Famous People

• James Bridger (1804 - 1881) Trapper, guide and storyteller.
• Joseph M. Carey (1845 - 1924) Mayor of Cheyenne, first U.S. Senator from Wyoming, Wyoming Governor; born in Milton, Delaware.
• Dick Cheney (1941 - ) White House Chief of Staff to President Ford, U.S. congressman, Secretary of Defense and Vice president of the U.S.; grew up in Casper.
• William "Buffalo Bill" Cody (1846 - 1917) Founder of Cody, Wyoming and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in Nebraska; born in Iowa.
• Curt Gowdy (1919 - ) Sportscaster, TV play-by-play man for AFL, NFL and major league baseball.
• Leonard S. Hobbs (1896 - 1977) Developed the engine for turbo jet airplanes; born in Carbon County.  
• Patricia MacLachlan (1938 - ) Author of children's books and Newberry Medal for Sarah, Plain and Tall; born in Cheyenne.
• Esther Hobart Morris (1814 - 1902) Helped women receive the right to vote in Wyoming and the nation's first female judge; born in New York.
• Jackson Pollock (1912 - 1956) Artist well known for his abstract paintings; born in Cody.
• Nellie Davis Tayloe Ross (1876 - 1977) Governor of Wyoming;  born November near St. Joseph, Missouri.
• Jedediah S. Smith (1799 - 1830) Mountain man and first American to get to California from the East.
• Alan K. Simpson (1931 - ) Wyoming senator from 1979-1997.
• Francis E. Warren (1844 - 1929) First state governor.
• James G. Watt (1938 - ) Former secretary of the Interior; born in Lusk.