Wyoming Info

At A Glance

Capitol: Cheyenne
Motto: Equal Rights
Nickname: Equality State, Cowboy State
Admitted To Union: July 10, 1890 - 44th State 
Size: 97,914 square miles, 9th largest State

State Firsts...

First Business West of the Missouri River
In 1834, a rambling log stockade called Fort William was erected at the confluence of the Laramie and North Platte Rivers by the veteran fur traders, William Sublette and Robert Campbell. By 1836, it had become an important resting place and haven for the trail-weary Oregon-bound travelers. The gold-rush to California in 1849-50 brought 50,000 emigrants by the old fort. In 1849, the U.S. Army purchased Fort William and turned it into the military post known as Fort Laramie.

First Women to Vote
John A. Campbell, Wyoming's first Territorial Governor, signed a bill December 10, 1869, making Wyoming the first state to grant women the right to vote.

First Woman Justice of the Peace
Esther Hobart Morris was appointed February 17, 1870 in South Pass City.

First All Woman Jury
The first all woman jury was sworn in March 7, 1870 in Laramie.

First Woman Bailiff
In 1870 Mary Atkinson of Albany County was appointed the first woman bailiff in the world.

First National Park
Congress in 1872 created Yellowstone National Park in northwestern Wyoming as the first national park in the world.

One of the first cities in the U.S. to be lighted with incandescent street lights.
Authorities claim that Thomas A. Edison conceived of the idea which led to this great invention while camping at Battle Lake, near Saratoga, Wyoming in 1878. Cleveland, Ohio had its public square lighted in 1879 and Cheyenne had its street brightened by these lamps in 1882.

First State to have a County Public 
Library System
The Laramie County Public Library System was organized in August of 1886.

First National Forest
Shoshone National Forest was named the first national forest. It was created by an Act signed by President Benjamin Harrison in 1891. Wyoming now has nine national forests.

First Ranger Station
Wapiti Ranger Station was established in the Shoshone National Forest in 1891.

First Woman Statewide Elected Official
Mrs. Estelle Reel was elected to Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1894.

First National Monument
Devils Tower in northeastern Wyoming was designated the first national monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.

First Evening Football Game
The first interscholastic football game to be played by artificial light took place in Midwest in 1925.

First Woman Governor in U.S.
Mrs. Nellie Tayloe Ross was elected to complete the term of her husband who died in office. She served from 1925 to 1927. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her the first woman to head the U.S. Mint, a position she held until 1953.

First American Legion Post
The first American Legion Post in the United States was established in Van Tassell.

Read more about the history of Wyoming...