Even in its early days, the University of Wyoming offered a practical education. Here, Professor Gilkenson oversees students in the University’s iron foundry. Ironworkers were highly valued in a railroad town like Laramie. In time, the University of Wyoming also became known for its geological work and curriculum. Geology professor Wilbur Knight noted, “The hills surrounding us are … Continue reading The Iron Foundry
» READ MOREThe Beginning of Rodeo in Wyoming As Laramie grew and the town spread out, businesses and attitudes were changing as the century was coming to a close. Many business people closed up shop and tried ranching and dry-farming. Along with the Cattle boom in the 1880’s, came many settlers and ranchers. The population was growing … Continue reading The Beginning of Rodeo
» READ MOREThe Morrill Act of 1862 offered 30,000 acres of Federal Land per each representative of the state to establish a Public University. The purpose of the land-grant colleges was: “without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactic, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, … Continue reading University of Wyoming History
» READ MORERemains of the Holliday Fire On April 14, 1948, a fast-spreading fire began in an elevator shaft at the W.H. Holliday Building, raged through the structure and burned out of control for 15 hours. According to the Wyoming Almanac, flames could be seen for 40 miles and destroyed seven buildings and some 30 businesses. There … Continue reading Remains of the Holliday Fire
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Butch Cassidy was a famous American outlaw who served time in the Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie (1894-1896). Born in Utah in 1866, Cassidy’s real name was Robert LeRoy Parker. He was intermittently a cowboy or a cattle rustler, a bank robber or a train robber teaming up with a succession of other outlaws. His … Continue reading Butch Cassidy
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Marilyn S. Kite of Jackson, Wyoming was the first woman to serve on the Wyoming Supreme Court and as its chief justice. Appointed by Republic Governor Jim Geringer, she was sworn into office in to become the first woman to serve on the Wyoming Supreme Court in June 2000 and the chief justice in July … Continue reading Marilyn Kite
» READ MOREWyoming State Archives, accessed February 2014 – October 2014, wyoarchives.state.wy.us American Heritage Center (at the U. of Wyoming), accessed January 2014 – November 2014, www.uwyo.edu/ahc, http://www.uwyo.edu/ahc/collections/digital.html Wyoming Tales and Trails, accessed February 2014 – November 2014, www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com Original drawings by Bugler C. Moellman, U.S. Army 11th Ohio Cavalry soldier, one map and eight drawings in … Continue reading Historical Maps and Aerial Photos Resources
» READ MOREThe building known as “the world’s oldest cabin” is a structure made of fossilized dinosaur bones just east of Medicine Bow, Wyoming. Thomas Boylan, an owner of a local service stop, assembled the cabin in the early 1930s from bones he had collected while working for various sheep operations in Wyoming some years earlier. His … Continue reading The Builder of the “World’s Oldest Cabin”
» READ MOREThe Other Roughriders; Col. Torrey and Wyoming’s Volunteer Cavalry By Phil Roberts The Rough Riders are usually associated with Theodore Roosevelt, but his were not the only “rough riders” organized to fight in the Spanish-American War of 1898. Wyoming had its rough riders, too, but due to a train mishap and the shortness of the … Continue reading The Other Roughriders: Col. Torrey and Wyoming’s Volunteer Cavalry
» READ MORERural Electrification Changed Farm Life Forever in Wyoming With the flip of a switch at a substation in Lingle, Wyoming on December. 5, 1937, a new age began for Wyoming farmers and ranchers who had been “left in the dark” far too long. Not many people directly benefited that day with the completion of Wyoming’s first Rural … Continue reading Rural Electrification Changed Wyoming Farm Life Forever
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