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(Abbr. WY or Wyo.) A state of the western United States. It was admitted as the 44th state in 1890. Acquired by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase (1803), Wyoming became a ranching center after the Union Pacific Railroad was established (1868). Cheyenne is the capital and the largest city. Population: 523,000.
For more information on Wyoming, visit Britannica.com.
Called the last bastion of the "Old West," Wyoming retains some vestiges of its frontier past, and not just through the popular summer rodeos and as a backdrop for motion picture Westerns. Rainfall is scant, elevations are high, distances between populated places are long.
Admitted to the union as the forty-fourth state on 10 July 1890, Wyoming is the least populated of the United States, with fewer than 500,000 people occupying a land area of 97,818 square miles. Rectangular and without natural borders, Wyoming is bounded on the north by Montana, on the west by Idaho and Utah, on the south by Utah and Colorado, and on the east by Nebraska and South Dakota.
Early Wyoming
The earliest residents in Wyoming were prehistoric people dating from more than 11,000 years ago. Several Native American tribes occupied various parts of what is now Wyoming, including the Shoshone, Sioux, Cheyenne, Crow, Blackfeet, and Arapaho. The state has just one Indian reservation shared between the Shoshone and Northern Arapaho.
Wyoming always has been, as a popular saying goes, a "trail to somewhere else." The first Europeans in Wyoming were French Canadian fur trappers in the middle 1700s, interested in its fur resources but not planning to stay. By the 1820s, several hundred fur trappers sought furs and trade with native people. The fur trade rendezvous, conceived by William Ashley, was first held in Wyoming. Fur traders built what became Wyoming's first permanent settlement—Fort Laramie—in 1834. Sold to the U.S. Army in 1849, the fort became an important stopover for westward travelers and for the quartering of soldiers sent West to guard trails from Indians.
Wyoming remained a trail as a result of migration to Oregon and the later gold rush to California. Some 350,000 travelers used the Oregon-California-Mormon trail across the central part of Wyoming between 1841 and 1860. During the 1860s a series of skirmishes between native people and the army caused significant dislocations.
Despite its Old West image, Wyoming is a product of the transcontinental railroad. Prior to its construction in the late 1860s, there were few people in Wyoming beyond the military posts, stage stations, and ferry crossings. The railroad began construction across southern Wyoming in 1867. Railway depot towns were established, including Cheyenne, Laramie, Rawlins, Green River, and Evanston. Dozens of other "hell-on-wheels" towns did not survive.
At the time, the area was a part of Dakota Territory, governed from Yankton. Local residents wanted their own territory. The members of the Dakota legislature were anxious to cleave off the Wyoming part of their territory because it had little in common with the Eastern Dakotas, so they petitioned Congress to establish a separate territory. The name "Wyoming" is not indigenous, but was applied to the new territory by U.S. Representative James M. Ashley of Ohio, chairman of the House Committee on Territories, who suggested the name in honor of his boyhood home in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania.
Women's Rights, Transportation, and Mineral Resources
Congress authorized the territory in 1868, but because of the pending impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, territorial officials were not appointed until after Johnson's successor, Ulysses S. Grant, was inaugurated. John A. Campbell of Ohio was the first territorial governor and Edward M. Lee of Connecticut the first territorial secretary. Neither had visited Wyoming prior to their appointments. The two men, with the help of the South Pass City saloonkeeper and legislator William Bright, convinced the first territorial legislature to give women equal rights, including the right to vote. Wyoming was the first government to do so, thus gaining the state's nickname, "The Equality State." Governor Campbell signed the suffrage bill on 10 December 1869, the date designated since 1935 as "Wyoming Day."
When Wyoming gained statehood in 1890, the state constitution guaranteed equal rights for women, thus making Wyoming the first state with such a constitutional provision, thirty years before all American women obtained the franchise. The other unique constitutional article stipulated state ownership of all waters within the state and specified the prior appropriation doctrine as a means of allocating water to users.
In 1924 Wyoming again gained national attention when Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman elected governor of any state. Estelle Reel, elected Wyoming's state superintendent of public instruction in 1894, had been the first woman in America to win statewide office.
The railroad engineer General Grenville Dodge determined much of the rail route across Wyoming and established the site of Cheyenne as a major railroad division point 8 July 1867. When Campbell first came to the territory, he designated Cheyenne his territorial capital. An article in the state constitution required an election to determine the location of the permanent capital. Since an election in 1904 failed to decide the issue, Cheyenne has remained the capital, albeit technically the temporary one.
Once the tracks for the transcontinental railroad had been laid across Wyoming, coal mines opened to supply the locomotives with fuel. Many of the earliest mines were owned by the Union Pacific Railroad or its subsidiary company. Because of the vast land grants deeded to the railroad as alternate sections twenty miles in both directions from the tracks, the railroad became (and remains) the largest private landowner in Wyoming, with an initial holding estimated at approximately 4.1 million acres. Because of its landholdings and its historic control over coal mining, the railroad was a significant force in Wyoming politics well into the twentieth century.
In the early 1900s, Wyoming again became a "trail to somewhere else" with the establishment of the Lincoln Highway, the nation's first transcontinental auto route. In the early 1920s, transcontinental airmail was flown across the state and airfields were established along the route, roughly paralleling the original transcontinental railroad line. Although air transport firms like United Airlines were once headquartered in Wyoming, the state now is home to no major airline. The busiest airport is in Jackson Hole, a destination for skiers, tourists, and many part-time residents.
Mineral development, starting with coal in the 1860s, remains a significant part of Wyoming's economy. The state has led the nation in coal production every year since 1988, with most of the coal coming from surface strip mines in the Powder River Basin in northeastern Wyoming.
Oil has been important in Wyoming history. In the early 1900s, the Salt Creek oil field in north-central Wyoming was one of the nation's largest oil producers. Casper, known as the Oil Capital of the Rockies, once was home to the world's largest gasoline refinery, the Standard Oil refinery, which was established in 1922. The nearby Teapot Dome Naval Petroleum Reserve lent its name to a national scandal in the 1920s, although no Wyomingite was directly involved in it. New oil discoveries were made in the 1970s in the "overthrust belt" of southwestern Wyoming, but oil production in the late twentieth century was in steady decline.
Trona, used in the production of glass and soap, was discovered in Wyoming in the mid-twentieth century. Nearly the entire national supply comes from the Green River Basin in southwestern Wyoming. Uranium, first discovered in great quantities in the 1950s, was produced in abundance in central Wyoming until demand began declining in 1980.
A Boom and Bust Economy
Because of the state's strong reliance on natural resources, it has been subject to extreme booms and busts. The fur trade was Wyoming's first boom and bust, followed several decades later by a bust in cattle ranching. The demise of coal-powered locomotives closed the coal mines in the 1950s, but coal production overtook all earlier records by the 1970s when the state's abundant coal, lying relatively close to the surface in deep seams, became an important fuel for power generation. Although low in BTUs, the low sulfur content met standards of the Clean Air Act and gave Wyoming coal competitive advantages in the last quarter of the twentieth century. From 1985 to the late 1990s, Wyoming suffered another economic bust, recovering only with the resurgence of natural gas prices and increased interest in coal bed methane production.
Agriculture was important in the development of Wyoming, particularly cattle raising. In the 1870s and 1880s, cattle companies formed in Europe and the East ran thousands of cattle on the open ranges of Wyoming. Competition and poor weather, culminating in the blizzard of 1886–1887, put many large companies out of business. This led to the Johnson County War of 1892, a conflict in which big operators sent a private army into Johnson County in north-central Wyoming to root out smaller ranchers who defied the rules set by the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. Two men, Nate Champion and Nick Ray, were killed by the cattle companies' men, who escaped conviction and punishment.
Crop agriculture has been limited as a consequence of aridity as well as the high average elevation and relatively short growing season. Nonetheless, some of the nation's first reclamation projects were built in Wyoming, and the dams allowed crop agriculture to proceed. Sugar beets, dry beans, and alfalfa are now important crops. Initially created to provide irrigation water to farmers, the dams also generate electricity for urban residents and give opportunities for recreational sports on the reservoirs.
Despite these water projects, experts promoted dry farming in eastern Wyoming in the early 1900s. The crops paid off until after World War I, when prices declined and the state was hit by a prolonged drought. By 1924, the state was in economic depression. In that one year alone, twenty-five banks failed. Many residents left the state, abandoning homesteads and closing businesses. New Deal programs, implemented almost a decade later, helped the economy but it was World War II that pulled the state out of its economic woes. In 1935, the state legislature debated new forms of taxation, rejecting a state income tax (promoted at the time by a bipartisan group of farmers and ranchers) and implementing instead a state sales tax. Wyoming remains one of only a handful of states without a state income tax. Sales taxes are augmented by mineral severance taxes, allowing for real property tax rates to remain among the lowest in the nation.
Following the Arab oil embargo of 1973, the state's economy entered another boom cycle. Cities such as Gillette and Rock Springs attracted national attention for runaway growth and problems of "impact." One of the main problems was the inability of the cities to house the huge influx of new residents. Also, the heavy strains of new, unexpected residents put pressure on water and sewer systems, streets, and law enforcement. Schools also recorded huge enrollments. Were it not for financial assistance from the state during the period, many of the cities would not have been able to handle the crunch. Legislative passage of a severance tax on minerals in 1969 guaranteed a source of funds to help mitigate the problems, even though mineral companies resisted the tax. Much of the severance tax revenues have gone into a Permanent Mineral Trust Fund, which had an estimated value of almost $3 billion in 2001. During the boom years of the early 1980s, as much as 40 percent of the state's budget was financed from severance tax revenues and state services were sustained during the bust years from 1985 to 1999.
Tourism, popularized by railroads in the nineteenth century, is also an important industry. Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming's northwest corner was established as America's first national park in 1872. Nearby Grand Teton National Park features spectacular mountain scenery as well as world-class ski areas nearby. Devils Tower National Monument, established as the first national monument in the United States in 1906, is located in northeastern Wyoming. The highly regarded Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody and celebrations such as Cheyenne Frontier Days attract tourists with the mystique of the Old West.
Tourism, the Environment, Manufacturing, and Education
Almost half of the state's land area is controlled by the federal government. Most of the federal land is held by the Bureau of Land Management, although the U.S. Forest Service manages vast tracts. Wyomingites remain split on environmental questions. In the 1990s, owners of ranches near Yellowstone unsuccessfully contested a plan of the federal government to reintroduce wolves into the park. Environmental organizations such as the regional-based Powder River Basin Resource Council have a substantial voice in Wyoming. In 2001, environmental groups pointed out the potential long-term damage caused by water discharges from coal bed methane wells in the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming.
Manufacturing has never been significant to the state's economy. Since territorial days, Wyoming politicians have sought economic diversification, but with negligible results. Neither are defense expenditures a significant factor in Wyoming's economy. The only defense installation is Warren Air Force Base, the headquarters for the MX missile system. Silos that once housed Atlas and Minuteman missiles still dot the landscape of the southeastern part of the state. An airbase was located near Casper during World War II and a relocation center to hold Japanese and Japanese Americans operated between Cody and Powell during the World War II years.
The University of Wyoming, founded in 1886, is the only four-year university in the state. Seven community colleges provide two years of higher education. School district consolidation and equalization of school funding have been major political issues at the turn of the twenty-first century. In a series of decisions during the 1990s, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled that educational spending must be as nearly equitable as possible.
Most Wyomingites live in small towns. The largest city, Cheyenne, has a population of just over fifty thousand people. Vast distances commonly separate towns. There are twenty-three counties. The legislature is bicameral, with a thirty-member Senate and sixty-member House elected from single-member districts.
Minority Groups and Racism
The population, very diverse when the railroad and coal mines hired workers of many nationalities, has become less so. The largest minority ethnic group is Mexican Americans. More than eleven thousand Native Americans live in Wyoming, most on the Wind River Reservation. The African American population is small and mainly concentrated in southern Wyoming.
Since the days of the frontier army forays against native people, racism has been present in Wyoming. More than two dozen Chinese miners were killed in the socalled Rock Springs massacre of September 1885, although most historians consider it a labor incident with racism in an incidental role. In 1969, the state and the University of Wyoming were rocked by the so-called Black 14 incident, which occurred when the university football coach kicked fourteen African American players off the team after they sought to wear black armbands in a game. The state and university gained national notoriety once again with the murder of gay university student Matthew Shepard in October 1998.
State Politics and Prominent Wyomingites
Until the late twentieth century, Wyoming had a competitive two-party system with national leaders coming from both political parties. U.S. Senator Francis E. Warren, the leader of the Republican Party in the state during the first decades of statehood, represented the state in the U.S. Senate for a record thirty-seven years until his death in 1929. John B. Kendrick, a popular Democrat, served as governor and then as U.S. senator until his death in 1933. Joseph M. Carey, first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1890, served as a Republican in the Senate but was elected governor as a Democrat in 1910. Other prominent political figures have included U.S. senators Joseph C. O'Mahoney (D), Gale McGee (D), and Alan K. Simpson (R). Vice President Richard Cheney represented Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 until his appointment as secretary of defense in 1989. Except for the Progressive (Bull Moose) party in 1912 and Ross Perot's campaign in 1992, third parties have not had significant influence in the state.
Prominent Wyomingites have included the showman William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, the sports announcer Curt Gowdy, the attorney and television personality Gerry Spence, Esther Hobart Morris (the first woman in America to serve as a judge), the efficiency expert W. Edwards Deming, the country singer Chris LeDoux, the rocket pioneer G. Edward Pendray, the water engineer Dr. Elwood Mead, and Interior Secretary James Watt. Other famous Wyomingites include the Olympic wrestler Rulon Gardner, Chief Washakie, Crazy Horse, the artist Jackson Pollock, the former cabinet officer James Baker, the World Bank president James Wolfensohn, author Annie Proulx, the retailer J. C. Penney (the first Penney store, in Kemmerer, Wyoming, opened in 1902), and the mountain climber Paul Petzoldt.
Bibliography
Annals of Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal. Laramie: Wyoming State Historical Society, 1923–. Published quarterly.
Gould, Lewis Gould. Wyoming from Territory to Statehood. Worland, N.Y.: High Plains, 1989.
Hendrickson, Gordon, ed. Peopling the High Plains: Wyoming's European Heritage. Cheyenne: Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department, 1977.
Larson, T. A. History of Wyoming. 2d ed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1978.
———. Wyoming's War Years. 1954. Reprint, Cheyenne: Wyoming Historical Foundation, 1994.
Roberts, Philip J., David L. Roberts, and Steven L. Roberts. Wyoming Almanac. 5th ed. Laramie, Wyo.: Skyline West Press, 2001.
Urbanek, Mae. Wyoming Place Names. Boulder, Colo.: Johnson, 1967.
Facts and Figures
Area, 97,914 sq mi (253,597 sq km). Pop. (2000) 493,782, an 8.9% increase since the 1990 census. Capital and largest city, Cheyenne. Statehood, July 10, 1890 (44th state). Highest pt., Gannett Peak, 13,804 ft (4,207 m); lowest pt., Belle Fourche River, 3,100 ft (946 m). Nickname, Equality State. Motto, Equal Rights. State bird, meadowlark. State flower, Indian paintbrush. State tree, cottonwood. Abbr., Wyo.; WY
Geography
Rectangular in shape, Wyoming is traversed by the Rocky Mts., which angle south across the state from the northwest. East of the mountains is the rolling country of the Great Plains, a mile-high region covered with grasses and sagebrush and interrupted by the upward thrust of mountain ranges. In the center of the state is a stretch of unbroken high plain, across which the wagon trains rolled westward over the Oregon Trail. In the extreme northeast the low, wooded Black Hills give way to eroded badlands extending west to the banks of the Powder River, which wanders through some of the most famous cattle country in the United States. West beyond the Powder is tallgrass country that was the hunting ground of the Crow until the migrating Sioux pushed the Crow westward into the mountains. The Sioux fell in turn before the relentless advance of settlers, and today farms and ranches occupy this fertile and beautiful plains area.
In SE Wyoming the higher tablelands are interrupted by the Laramie and Medicine Bow ranges. Across this region travelers to the Pacific coast made their way when wars with natives in the 1860s made the Oregon Trail hazardous. The railroad followed paths of these wagon trains when the Union Pacific laid its tracks along this more southerly course. In SW Wyoming is the natural gateway through the Rockies: the broad, grassy South Pass. Immediately north of the pass is the Wind River Range, reaching the highest elevation in the state at Gannett Peak. Still farther north rise the Gros Ventre and Absaroka ranges, and to the west, near the Idaho line, the glorious Tetons loom above a lake and valley country of renowned beauty.
From the mountain heights snows melt to feed a number of rivers. The Snake begins its long, winding journey into Idaho and on to the Columbia; the Yellowstone travels north and east into the Missouri; and the Green River flows south to join the Colorado. This wealth of surface water offsets the scant rainfall, and river water is impounded for irrigation, flood control, and in some cases hydroelectric power.
Wyoming has two spectacular national parks: Grand Teton, which embraces the most stunning portion of the Teton Range, and Yellowstone, which includes the entire northwest corner of the state and was the world's first national park. Yellowstone's geysers and hot springs are world famous, as is the breathtaking Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Wyoming is also prime hunting and fishing country. The nation's largest herds of elk and antelope are there; deer, moose, and bear are plentiful, and the rivers, lakes, and streams teem with fish. Also in the state are Devils Tower and Fossil Butte national monuments and two national recreational areas, Bighorn Canyon and Flaming Gorge (see National Parks and Monuments, table). Cheyenne is the capital and largest city; Casper and Laramie are the second and third largest cities.
Economy
Dry farming, producing hay, wheat, and barley, is supplemented by the more diversified yield (especially sugar beets and dry beans) of irrigated fields. Most of the inhabitants of the state derive their livelihood directly or indirectly from farming or ranching. The most valuable farm commodities, in terms of cash receipts, are cattle, hay, sugar beets, and wheat. Sparse grasses over much of the region necessitate a large grazing area for each animal, and the average ranch in Wyoming is larger than in any state except Arizona. Sheep graze in places unfit for cattle, and both sheep and cattle range by permit in the national forests. Cooperative grazing tracts are on the increase. Horses, a prized essential in the practice of ranching, are carefully raised and trained.
Mining is the largest sector of the state's economy, accounting for about one quarter of the gross state product. Oil wells were first drilled in the 1860s, and today petroleum remains one of the state's most important minerals. The production of petroleum and petroleum products is centered in Casper. Natural gas, however, now exceeds petroleum in economic significance, as does coal. Wyoming is a significant U.S. producer sodium carbonate and uranium as well, and considerable amounts of gold, iron, and various clays are also mined. Important manufactures include processed foods and clay, glass, and wood products.
Wyoming has almost 10 million acres of forested land. The state's natural beauty makes tourism and recreation a major source of revenue. In addition, the multitude of rodeos, annual roundups, and frontier celebrations and the presence of numerous dude ranches draw a large number of vacationers every year.
Government and Higher Education
Wyoming still operates under its first constitution, adopted in 1890. The executive branch is headed by a governor elected for a four-year term. Republican Jim Geringer won the governorship in 1994 and was reelected in 1998. He was succeeded by Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, elected in 2002 and again four years later. Wyoming's legislature has a senate with 30 members and a house of representatives with 60 members. The state sends two senators and one representative to the U.S. Congress and has three electoral votes. The Univ. of Wyoming is at Laramie, and there are a number of community colleges.
History
European Claims
Portions of what is now Wyoming were at one time claimed by Spain, France, and England. The acquisition of the territory by the United States was completed through five major annexations—the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the Treaty of 1819 with Spain, cession by the Republic of Texas in 1836 and partition from Texas after it was annexed in 1845, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) after the Mexican War, and the international agreement (1846) with Great Britain concerning the Columbia River country (see Oregon).
The Fur Trade and Westward Migration
The early development of Wyoming was closely linked with the fur trade and the great westward migrations. French trappers and explorers may have reached the area in the middle to late 18th cent., but the first authentic accounts of the region were provided by John Colter, who, trapped in the Wyoming mountains for several years, returned to St. Louis in 1810 with fantastic accounts of the steaming geysers and great canyons of the Yellowstone. Colter returned west, and other fur traders made their way into Wyoming. The overland party on its way to found
Only the hardiest and most self-sufficient could survive the Native American attacks and the rugged isolation of the country. With the expeditions of William H. Ashley, the mountain men entered the country, and some of the most famous of those early explorers—Thomas Fitzpatrick, James Bridger, and Jedediah S. Smith—crossed and recrossed the land. Attracted by the fur trade, Capt. B. L. E. de Bonneville organized a sizable expedition, and his were the first wagons to go (1832) through South Pass. The first permanent trading post was Fort William (1834), famous under its later name, Fort Laramie. In 1843 Fort Bridger (now in a state park) was built. The area also aroused the interest of John C. Frémont, who made an expedition in 1842. By the 1840s the route west through Wyoming was in steady use by caravans headed toward Oregon, and the fur-trading posts became stations on the Oregon Trail.
As the fur trade declined, many former trappers and mountaineers settled along the trail, furnishing horses and other supplies to the migrants and purchasing debilitated stock to be put to pasture and sold the following year. Mormons trekking to Utah (Brigham Young led the first party in 1847) and Forty-Niners rushing to the gold fields of California joined the many thousands traversing the mountain passes of Wyoming. A number of Mormons settled for a time in W Wyoming. The death of Mormon pioneers in a blizzard (1856) and the thousands of graves along the Oregon Trail give an indication of the toll taken by disease, starvation, attacks by Native Americans, and winter snows. Despite the hardships, telegraph stations (1861) and stagecoach and freight lines were established, and in 1860–61 pony express riders crossed Wyoming on their route between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California.
Native American Hostilities and Increased Settlement
Native Americans hostile to encroachment in the early 1860s forced the rerouting of stagecoaches to the south, along the Overland Trail. Displaced from their former homes in the east and west, and waging internecine warfare for control of the rich buffalo ranges, the tribes feared further encroachment by the settlers on their hunting grounds, especially after the opening (1864) of the Bozeman Trail. Treaties were made and broken by both sides, and wars with the Sioux persisted, particularly in the Powder River valley.
Meanwhile, S Wyoming was relatively free of attacks, and a gold rush, stimulated by the discoveries at South Pass (1867), brought the first heavy influx of settlers to that region; the flow was increased by the uncovering of vast coal deposits in SW Wyoming. Probably the greatest stimulus to settlement was the completion (1868) of the Wyoming sector of the Union Pacific RR. Towns, including Cheyenne, sprang up beside the tracks, and trade thrived on the demands of the road crews and the new settlers.
Territorial Status and Economic Development
In 1868 the region became the Territory of Wyoming, with Cheyenne as its capital. Wyoming pioneered in political equality when, in 1869, the first territorial legislature granted the vote to women. The territory continued to advance economically as huge herds of cattle were driven up over the Texas or Long Trail. Native American resistance had been suppressed by the late 1870s. The Arapaho were placed on the Wind River Reservation with their former enemies, the Shoshone, and cattlemen safely moved their herds to grasslands throughout Wyoming.
After the complete opening of rangelands, cattle rustling became so common that the authorities could not control it, and juries grew fearful of returning just verdicts against criminals. The Wyoming Stock Growers Association was organized in 1873 to protect cattle owners, and members frequently formed vigilante groups to administer their own justice. The struggle reached its height in the Johnson county cattle war of 1892. Lawlessness was also exemplified by the Hole-in-the-Wall gang, which broadened its activities to include bank and train robberies as well as cattle theft.
Gradually, vast areas were fenced in and winter pastures were established. The influx of sheep in the late 1890s, however, brought new violence. Cattlemen made frantic efforts to exclude the sheep from close grazing on the precious grasslands. Homesteaders were also unwelcome, and many left when they realized that the country was unsuited for small acreage cultivation. Nonetheless, population increase was steady, advancing from about 9,000 in 1870 to over 90,000 in 1900. With expanding population came other kinds of development: eager frontiersmen rapidly (and somewhat chaotically) established schools, and in 1887 the Univ. of Wyoming was founded.
Statehood and Progressive Legislation
Statehood was achieved in 1890, and in keeping with its frontier ideals, Wyoming adopted a liberal state constitution that included the secret ballot. The Carey Act of 1894, providing for the reclamation and settlement of land, stimulated further agrarian development and, in addition, pointed out the need for conservation and efficient use of water. The establishment of national parks protected timberlands and extensive grazing areas, and water power was harnessed to furnish electricity for farms and industries.
In politics, the Progressive movement found numerous adherents in Wyoming; in 1915, after one of the most bitter fights in the state's history, Progressive forces triumphed over the railroad and related interests with the establishment of a state utilities commission. A worker's compensation law was passed in 1915, and also in that year the legislature authorized the Univ. of Wyoming to accept federal grants for agricultural experiments and demonstrations. Thus were begun the state's outstanding and widespread services for agrarian improvement. In 1924 Wyoming became the first state to elect a woman governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross.
The Energy Industry and Agriculture in the Twentieth Century
By the mid-1920s the state ranked fourth in the nation in the production of crude oil, but the valuable finds at Teapot Dome are probably remembered best as the symbol of corruption in the administration of President Warren Harding. Under the New Deal, Wyoming was well served by national soil conservation programs, which benefited dry farmers who had extended operations into semiarid regions and had suffered severely in the drought years beginning in the late 1920s. The cooperative movement in agriculture also gained ground in this period and has since grown.
One of the most important events in the state since World War II was the discovery of uranium. New oil finds also helped to offset economic losses resulting from a disastrous four-year-long drought in the 1950s. The decade from the early 1970s to the early 1980s was a boom period for Wyoming as high energy prices boosted the state's coal, oil, and natural gas industries. By the mid-1980s, however, energy prices were falling and the economy was hurt by its lack of diversity, but tourism and recreation subsequently developed as an important sector of the economy. Wyoming also has suffered from the injurious environmental effects of the energy industry, and pollution has become a serious problem in some mining towns. Although its population rose by almost 9% between 1990 and 2000, the state is still the least populous in the nation. With the increase in energy prices in the early 21st cent. Wyoming again found itself in an economic boom.
Bibliography
See T. A. Larson, History of Wyoming (1966, 2d rev. ed. 1979); The Historical Encyclopedia of Wyoming, pub. by the Wyoming Historical Institute (2 vol., 1970); L. M. Woods, The Wyoming Country Before Statehood (1971); L. and O. H. Bonney, Guide to the Wyoming Mountains and Wilderness (1977); R. H. Brown, Wyoming, A Geography (1980); T. Treadway, Wyoming (1982); P. Roberts and D. L. Roberts, Wyoming Almanac (1988).
State in the western United States bordered by Montana to the north, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Colorado and Utah to the south, and Idaho to the west. Its capital is Cheyenne, and its largest city is Casper.
Local Time: Jul 7, 5:02 AM
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| State of Wyoming | |||||||||||
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| Official language(s) | English | ||||||||||
| Capital | Cheyenne | ||||||||||
| Largest city | Cheyenne | ||||||||||
| Area | Ranked 10th | ||||||||||
| - Total | 97,818 sq mi (253,348 km²) |
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| - Width | 280 miles (450 km) | ||||||||||
| - Length | 360 miles (580 km) | ||||||||||
| - % water | 0.7 | ||||||||||
| - Latitude | 41°N to 45°N | ||||||||||
| - Longitude | 104°3'W to 111°3'W | ||||||||||
| Population | Ranked 50th | ||||||||||
| - Total (2000) | 493,782 | ||||||||||
| - Density | 5.1/sq mi 1.96/km² (49th) |
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| Elevation | |||||||||||
| - Highest point | Gannett Peak[1] 13,804 ft (4,210 m) |
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| - Mean | 6,700 ft (2,044 m) | ||||||||||
| - Lowest point | Belle Fourche River[1] 3,099 ft (945 m) |
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| Admission to Union | July 10, 1890 (44th) | ||||||||||
| Governor | Dave Freudenthal (D) | ||||||||||
| U.S. Senators | Mike Enzi (R) John Barrasso (R) |
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| Congressional Delegation | List | ||||||||||
| Time zone | Mountain: UTC-7/-6 | ||||||||||
| Abbreviations | WY US-WY | ||||||||||
| Web site | wyoming.gov | ||||||||||
The State of Wyoming (IPA: /waɪˈoʊmɪŋ/) is a state in the western region of the United States of America. The easternmost section of the state is a region known as the High Plains due to its altitude above sea level, while the majority of the state is dominated by the mountain ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountain West. Wyoming is the least populous U.S. state. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the state population was 515,004 in 2006, a 4.3% increase since 2000.[2] The capital and the most populous city of Wyoming is Cheyenne. Residents of Wyoming are known as Wyomingites.
Wyoming is bordered on the north by Montana, on the east by South Dakota and Nebraska, on the south by Colorado, on the southwest by Utah, and on the west by Idaho. It is the tenth largest state in the United States in total area, containing 97,818 square miles (253,348 km²) and is made up of 23 counties. From the north border to the south border it is 276 miles (444 km); and from the east to the west border is 375 miles (603 km).
The Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming. The state is a great plateau broken by a number of mountain ranges. In the northwest are the Absaroka, Owl Creek, Gros Ventre, Wind River and the Teton ranges. In the north central are the Big Horn Mountains; in the northeast, the Black Hills; and in the southern region the Laramie, Snowy and Sierra Madre ranges.
Wyoming is an arid state with much of the land receiving less than 10 inches (25 cm) of rainfall per year. Consequently, the land supports few opportunities for farming. Ranching is widespread, especially in areas near the numerous mountain chains. The Snowy Range in the south central part of the state is an extension of the Colorado Rockies in both geology and appearance. The Wind River Range in the west central part of the state is remote and includes Gannett Peak, the highest peak in the state. The Big Horn Mountains in the north central portion are somewhat isolated from the bulk of the Rocky Mountains.
The Teton Range in the northwest extends for 50 miles (80 km) and represents the most impressive section of mountains in the state. It is home to Grand Teton, the second highest peak in Wyoming, and to Grand Teton National Park, which preserves the most scenic section of the Teton range.
Several rivers begin or flow through the state, including the Yellowstone River, Powder River,
The Continental Divide forks in the south central part of the state. The waters that flow or precipitate into this area, known as the Great Divide Basin, do not flow to any ocean. Instead, because of the overall aridity of Wyoming, they simply sink into the soil or evaporate. Rivers east of the Divide drain into the Missouri River Basin and eventually the Atlantic Ocean. They are the Platte, Wind, Big Horn and the Yellowstone rivers. The Snake River in northwest Wyoming eventually drains into the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean, as does the Green River through the Colorado River Basin.
Areas under the management of the National Park Service include:
The climate in Wyoming is generally a semi-arid continental climate (Koppen climate classification BSk) which is drier and windier in comparison to most of the United States with temperature extremes. Much of this is due to the topography of the state. Summers in Wyoming are warm with July high temperatures averaging between 85 °F (29°C) and 95 °F (35°C) in most of the state. With increasing elevation, however, this average drops rapidly with locations above 9,000 feet (2,743 m) averaging around 70 °F (21°C). Summer nights throughout the state are characterized by a rapid cooldown with even the hottest locations averaging in the 50-60 °F (10-14°C) range at night. In most of the state, the late spring and early summer is when most of the precipitation tends to fall. Winters are cold, but are variable with periods of sometimes extreme cold interspersed between generally mild periods, with Chinook winds providing unusually warm temperatures in some locations. Precipitation depends on elevation with lower areas in the Big Horn Basin averaging 5-8 inches (125 - 200 mm) (making the area nearly a true desert). The lower areas in the North and on the eastern plains typically average around 10-12 inches (250-300 mm), making the climate there semi-arid. Some mountain areas do receive a good amount of precipitation, 20 inches (510 mm) or more, much of it as snow, sometimes 200 inches (510 cm) or more annually.
The climate of any area in Wyoming is largely determined by its latitude, altitude and local topography. When put together, these factors have a lot to do with airflow patterns, temperature variations, precipitation and humidity brought in by the weather systems that migrate eastward. In winter, Wyoming is often beneath the jet stream, or north of it, which accounts for its frequent strong winds, blasts of Arctic air and precipitation, all the necessary ingredients for great snow conditions at Wyoming's northwestern ski areas. In summer, the jet stream retreats northward to somewhere over Canada, leaving the state's weather mild and pleasant at a time when the majority of Wyoming's visitors choose to arrive. Jackson, located at 6,230 feet (1,899 m) above sea level and surrounded by mountains, can expect a high temperature in July of 80˚ F (26.6°C). The average is more likely to be 65˚ F (18.3°C). The closest National Weather Station (in Riverton on the other side of the Wind River Mountains at 4,955 feet (1,510 m)) reports slightly warmer July weather.
Weather and topography in Wyoming both have more contrast than in most other states. Surface elevations range from the summit of Gannett Peak in the Wind River Mountains, at 13,804 feet (4,207 m), to the Belle Fourche River Valley in the state’s northeast corner, at 3,125 feet (952 m). Severe weather is not uncommon in Wyoming, with the state being one of the leading states for hail damage in the United States. The number of thunderstorm days vary across the state with the southeastern plains of the state having the most days of thunderstorm activity. Thunderstorm activity in the state is highest during the late spring and early summer. The southeastern corner of the state is the most vulnerable part of the state to tornado activity. Moving away from that point and westwards, the incidence of tornadoes drops dramatically with the west part of the state showing little vulnerability. Tornadoes, where they occur, tend to be small and brief, unlike some of those which occur a little further east.
| Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures For Various Wyoming Cities | ||||||||||||
| City | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casper | 32/12 | 37/16 | 47/23 | 56/29 | 66/38 | 79/47 | 87/53 | 85/52 | 73/42 | 60/32 | 43/21 | 34/14 |
| Cheyenne | 37/15 | 40/17 | 46/22 | 54/29 | 64/38 | 75/48 | 82/53 | 80/52 | 70/43 | 58/32 | 44/22 | 38/16 |
| Lander | 32/9 | 37/14 | 48/24 | 56/31 | 66/40 | 78/49 | 86/55 | 85/54 | 73/44 | 60/33 | 42/19 | 33/10 |
| Sheridan | 33/10 | 39/15 | 48/22 | 58/30 | 66/39 | 76/47 | 85/52 | 85/52 | 73/41 | 60/30 | 43/18 | 34/10 |
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The region known today as the state of Wyoming was originally inhabited by several Native American groups. The name Wyoming is derived from the Delaware (Munsee) name xwé:wamənk, meaning "at the big river flat", originally applied to the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania.[3] The Crow, Arapaho, Lakota, and Shoshone were but a few of the original inhabitants encountered when white explorers first entered the region. Although French trappers may have ventured into the northern sections of the state in the late 1700s, 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 the Yellowstone area were considered at the time to be fictional. Robert Stuart and a party of five men returning from Astoria 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.
After the Union Pacific Railroad reached the town of Cheyenne, which later became the state capital, in 1867, the population began to grow steadily in the Wyoming Territory, which was established on July 25, 1868.[4] Unlike Colorado to the south, Wyoming never experienced a rapid population boom from any major mineral discoveries such as gold or silver. Copper was found in some areas of the state.
Once government sponsored expeditions to the Yellowstone country were undertaken, the previous reports by men like Colter and Bridger were found to be true. This led to the creation of Yellowstone National Park, which became the world's first Natio
