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Wy·o·ming (wī-ō'mĭng)  |
(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.
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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.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Wyoming |
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).
| Stats: Wyoming |
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| Parks: Wyoming |
| Wikipedia: Wyoming |
| State of Wyoming | |||||||||||
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| Official language(s) | English | ||||||||||
| Demonym | Wyomingite | ||||||||||
| Capital | Cheyenne | ||||||||||
| Largest city | Cheyenne | ||||||||||
| Area | Ranked 10th in the US | ||||||||||
| - 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 in the US | ||||||||||
| - Total | 532,668 (2008 est.)[1] | ||||||||||
| - Density | 5.4/sq mi (2.08/km²) Ranked 49th in the US |
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| Elevation | |||||||||||
| - Highest point | Gannett Peak[2] 13,804 ft (4,210 m) |
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| - Mean | 6,700 ft (2,044 m) | ||||||||||
| - Lowest point | Belle Fourche River[2] 3,099 ft (945 m) |
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| Admission to Union | July 10, 1890 (44th) | ||||||||||
| Governor | Dave Freudenthal (D) | ||||||||||
| Lieutenant Governor | None[3] | ||||||||||
| U.S. Senators | Mike Enzi (R) John Barrasso (R) |
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| U.S. House delegation | Cynthia Lummis (R) (list) | ||||||||||
| Time zone | Mountain: UTC-7/-6 | ||||||||||
| Abbreviations | WY US-WY | ||||||||||
| Website | wyoming.gov | ||||||||||
The State of Wyoming (
/waɪˈoʊmɪŋ/ (help·info)) is a state in the Western United States. The majority of the state is dominated by the mountain ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountain West, while the easternmost section of the state includes part of a high altitude prairie region known as the High Plains. While the tenth largest U.S. state by size, Wyoming is the least populous, with a U.S. Census estimated population of 522,830 in 2007, a 5.9% increase since 2000.[4] The capital and the most populous city of Wyoming is Cheyenne.
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As specified in the designating legislation for the territory of Wyoming, the state is defined as a geoellipsoidal rectangle bounded by lines of latitude and longitude.[5] Wyoming is one of only three states (along with Colorado and Utah) to have only latitudinal and longitudinal, rather than naturally-defined, boundaries. In reality, due to survey errors during the 19th century, Wyoming's border deviates from the latitude or longitude lines by up to half of a mile (.8 km) in some spots, especially in the mountainous region along the 45th parallel.[6] 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 (253,350 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 365 miles (587 km) at its south end and 342 miles (550 km) at the north end.
The Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming. The state is a great plateau broken by a number of mountain ranges. Surface elevations range from the summit of Gannett Peak in the Wind River Mountain Range, at 13,804 feet (4,207 m), to the Belle Fourche River valley in the state’s northeast corner, at 3,125 feet (953 m). 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.
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 more than 40 mountain peaks in excess of 13,000 ft (4,000 m) tall in addition to 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), part of which is included in Grand Teton National Park. The park includes the Grand Teton, the second highest peak in Wyoming.
The Continental Divide spans north-south across the central portion of the state. Rivers east of the divide drain into the Missouri River Basin and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. They are the North 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.
The continental divide forks in the south central part of the state in an area known as the Great Divide Basin where the waters that flow or precipitate into this area remain there and cannot flow to any ocean. Instead, because of the overall aridity of Wyoming, water in the Great Divide Basin simply sinks into the soil or evaporates.
Several rivers begin or flow through the state, including the Yellowstone River, Bighorn River, Green River, and the Snake River.
More than 48% of the land in Wyoming is owned by the U.S. Government, which ranks fifth in the US in both total acres owned by the Federal Government and by percentage of a state's land owned by the Federal government.[7] This amounts to about 30,099,430 acres (121,808.1 km2) owned and managed by the U.S. Government. The state government owns an additional 6% of all Wyoming lands, or another 3,864,800 acres (15,640 km2).[7]
The vast majority of this government land is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service in numerous National Forests, a National Grassland, and a number of vast swaths of public land.
In addition, Wyoming contains a number of specific areas that are under the management of the National Park Service and other agencies. They include:
Wyoming's climate 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 (2,700 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. Wyoming is an arid state with much of the land receiving less than 10 inches (250 mm) of rainfall per year. Precipitation depends on elevation with lower areas in the Big Horn Basin averaging 5–8 inches (130–200 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 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 (1,900 m) above sea level and surrounded by mountains, can expect a high temperature in July of 80 °F (27 °C). The average is more likely to be 65 °F (18 °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.
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.
| 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 |
Several Native American groups originally inhabited the region now known as Wyoming. 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, first described 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 Oregon Trail later followed that route. In 1850, Jim Bridger located what is now known as Bridger Pass, which the Union Pacific Railroad used in 1868 — as did Interstate 80, ninety years later. Bridger also explored Yellowstone and filed reports on the region that, like those of Colter, were largely regarded as tall tales at the time.
The region may have acquired the name Wyoming as early as 1865, when Representative J. M. Ashley of Ohio introduced a bill to Congress to provide a "temporary government for the territory of Wyoming". The name Wyoming derives from the Munsee name xwé:wamənk, meaning "at the big river flat", originally applied to the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, made famous by the 1809 poem Gertrude of Wyoming by Thomas Campbell.[9][10]
After the Union Pacific Railroad reached the town of Cheyenne in 1867, the region's population began to grow steadily, and the Federal government established the Wyoming Territory on July 25, 1868.[11] Unlike Colorado to the south, Wyoming enjoyed no significant discovery of such celebrated minerals as gold and silver — nor Colorado's consequent boom in population — although South Pass City experienced a short-lived boom after the Carissa Mine began producing gold in 1867.[12] Moreover, some areas, such as between the Sierra Madre Mountains and the Snowy Range near Encampment, Wyoming, produced copper.[13]
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 National Park in 1872. Nearly all of Yellowstone National Park lies within the far northwestern borders of Wyoming.
On December 10, 1869, territorial Gov. John A. Campbell signed a suffrage act into law, which extended the right to vote to women. And in addition to being the first U.S. state to grant suffrage to women, Wyoming was also the home of other firsts for U.S. women in politics. For the first time, women served on a jury in Wyoming (Laramie in 1870). Wyoming had the first female court bailiff (Mary Atkinson, Laramie, in 1870) and the first female justice of the peace in the country (Esther Hobart Morris, South Pass City, in 1870). Wyoming became the first state in the Union to elect a female governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross, who was elected in 1924 and took office in January 1925. Because of rights given to women, Wyoming earned the nickname of "The Equality State".[14]
Wyoming's constitution included women's suffrage and a pioneering article on water rights.[15] The United States admitted Wyoming into the Union as the 44th state on July 10, 1890.[14]
Wyoming was the location of the Johnson County War of 1892, which erupted between competing groups of cattle ranchers. The passage of the federal Homestead Act led to an influx of small ranchers. A range war broke out when either or both of the groups chose violent conflict over commercial competition in the use of the public land.
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1870 | 9,118 |
|
|
| 1880 | 20,789 | 128.0% | |
| 1890 | 62,555 | 200.9% | |
| 1900 | 92,531 | 47.9% | |
| 1910 | 145,965 | 57.7% | |
| 1920 | 194,402 | 33.2% | |
| 1930 | 225,565 | 16.0% | |
| 1940 | 250,742 | 11.2% | |
| 1950 | 290,529 | 15.9% | |
| 1960 | 330,066 | 13.6% | |
| 1970 | 332,416 | 0.7% | |
| 1980 | 469,557 | 41.3% | |
| 1990 | 453,588 | −3.4% | |
| 2000 | 493,782 | 8.9% | |
| Est. 2008[1] | 532,668 | 7.9% | |
The center of population of Wyoming is located in Natrona County.[16]
As of 2005, Wyoming had an estimated population of 509,293, which was an increase of 3,407, or 0.7%, from the prior year and an increase of 15,512, or 3.1%, since the 2000 census. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 12,165 people (that is 33,704 births minus 21,539 deaths) and an increase from net migration of 4,035 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 2,264 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 1,771 people. In 2004, the foreign-born population was 11,000 (2.2%). In 2005, total births in Wyoming numbered 7,231 (Birth Rate of 14.04).[17]
Wyoming is the least populous state of the United States (including the District of Columbia), and has the second lowest population density, behind Alaska.
| Demographics of Wyoming (csv) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| By race | White | Black | AIAN* | Asian | NHPI* |
| 2000 (total population) | 96.19% | 1.01% | 3.06% | 0.84% | 0.13% |
| 2000 (Hispanic only) | 6.05% | 0.11% | 0.32% | 0.06% | 0.02% |
| 2005 (total population) | 96.01% | 1.15% | 3.06% | 0.90% | 0.12% |
| 2005 (Hispanic only) | 6.38% | 0.15% | 0.27% | 0.05% | 0.01% |
| Growth 2000–05 (total population) | 2.95% | 17.26% | 3.16% | 10.32% | -3.47% |
| Growth 2000–05 (non-Hispanic only) | 2.57% | 14.20% | 4.95% | 12.17% | 0.18% |
| Growth 2000–05 (Hispanic only) | 8.66% | 42.08% | -12.31% | -14.09% | -28.40% |
| * AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native; NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | |||||
The largest ancestry groups in Wyoming are: German (25.9%), English (15.9%), Irish (13.3%), American (6.5%), Norwegian (4.3%), and Swedish (3.5%).
The religious affiliations of the people of Wyoming are shown in the table below:
The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Roman Catholic Church with 80,421; the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 47,129; and the Southern Baptist Convention with 17,101.[18]
According to the 2005 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report, Wyoming’s gross state product was $27.4 billion. Wyoming’s unemployment rate for 2006 was approximately 3.3%, which was lower than the national average of 4.6%. Components of Wyoming's economy differ significantly from those of other states. The mineral extraction industry and the travel and tourism sector are the main drivers behind Wyoming’s economy. The Federal government owns about 50% of its landmass, while 6% is controlled by the state. Total taxable values of mining production in Wyoming for 2001 was over $6.7 billion. The tourism industry accounts for over $2 billion in revenue for the state.
In 2002, more than six million people visited Wyoming’s national parks and monuments. The key tourist attractions in Wyoming include Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Devils Tower National Monument and Fossil Butte National Monument. Each year Yellowstone National Park receives three million visitors.
Historically, agriculture has been an important component of Wyoming’s economy. Its overall importance to the performance of Wyoming’s economy has waned. However, agriculture is still an essential part of Wyoming’s culture and lifestyle. The main agricultural commodities produced in Wyoming include livestock (beef), hay, sugar beets, grain (wheat and barley), and wool. More than 91% of land in Wyoming is classified as rural.
Wyoming’s mineral commodities include coal, natural gas, coalbed methane, crude oil, uranium, and trona.
Unlike most other states, Wyoming does not levy an individual or corporate income tax. In addition, Wyoming does not assess any tax on retirement income earned and received from another state. Wyoming has a state sales tax of 4%. Counties have the option of collecting an additional 1% tax for general revenue and a 2% tax for specific purposes, if approved by voters. Food for human consumption is not subject to sales tax.[22] There also is a county lodging tax that varies from 2% to 5%. The state collects a use tax of 5% on items purchased elsewhere and brought into Wyoming. All property tax is based on the assessed value of the property and Wyoming's Department of Revenue's Ad Valorem Tax Division supports, trains, and guides local government agencies in the uniform assessment, valuation and taxation of locally assessed property. "Assessed value" means taxable value; "taxable value" means a percent of the fair market value of property in a particular class. Statutes limit property tax increases. For county revenue, the property tax rate cannot exceed 12 mills (or 1.2%) of assessed value. For cities and towns, the rate is limited to 8 mills (0.8%). With very few exceptions, state law limits the property tax rate for all governmental purposes.
Personal property held for personal use is tax-exempt. Inventory if held for resale, pollution control equipment, cash, accounts receivable, stocks and bonds are also exempt. Other exemptions include property used for religious, educational, charitable, fraternal, benevolent and government purposes and improvements for handicapped access. Minerals are exempt from property tax but companies must pay a gross products tax and a severance tax when produced. Underground mining equipment is tax exempt.
Wyoming does not collect inheritance taxes. Because of the phase-out of the federal estate tax credit, Wyoming's estate tax is not imposed on estates of persons who died in 2005. There is limited estate tax related to federal estate tax collection.
In 2008 the Tax Foundation ranked Wyoming as having the single most "business friendly" tax climate of all 50 states.[23] Wyoming state and local governments in fiscal year 2007 collected $2,242 billion in taxes, levies, and royalties from the oil and gas industry. The state's mineral industry, including oil, gas, trona, and coal provided $1.3 billion in property taxes from 2006 mineral production.[20]
The largest airport in Wyoming is Jackson Hole Airport.Three interstate highways and nine U.S. highways pass through Wyoming. In addition, the state is served by the Wyoming state highway system.
Interstate 25 enters the state south of Cheyenne and runs north, intersecting Interstate 80 in Cheyenne. It passes through Casper and ends at Interstate 90 near Buffalo. Interstate 80 crosses the Utah border west of Evanston and runs east through the southern half of the state, passing through Cheyenne before entering Nebraska near Pine Bluffs. Interstate 90 comes into Wyoming near Parkman and cuts through the northern part of the state. It serves Gillette and enters South Dakota east of Sundance. In addition, Interstate 180 services Cheyenne, and not only is it the only three-digit interstate highway in the state, it is the only non-freeway in the country that is signed as an interstate.[citation needed]
The U.S. highways that pass through the state are U.S. Highways 14, 16, 18,20, 26, 30, 85, 87, 89, 189, 191, 212, and 287.
See also: List of Wyoming railroadsList of airports in Wyoming,andState highways in Wyoming
The Wind River Indian Reservation is shared by the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes of Amerindians in the central western portion of the state near Lander. It is the seventh-largest Indian reservation in the United States, with a land area of 8,995.733 km2 (3,473.272 sq mi), encompassing most of Fremont County.[24] The reservation is home to 2,500 Eastern Shoshone and 5,000 Northern Arapaho.[25]
Chief Washakie established the reservation in 1868[24] as the result of negotiations with the federal government in the Fort Bridger Treaty.[26] However, the Northern Arapaho were forced onto the Shoshone reservation in 1876 by the federal government after the government failed to provide a promised separate reservation.[26]
Today the Wind River Indian Reservation is jointly owned, with each tribe having a 50% interest in the land, water, and other natural resources.[27] The reservation is a sovereign, self-governed land with two independent governing bodies: the Eastern Shoshone Tribal Government and the Northern Arapaho Tribal Government. The Eastern Shoshone Business Council meets jointly with the Northern Arapaho Business Council as the Joint Business Council to decide matters that affect both tribes.[24] Six elected council members from each tribe serve on the joint council.
Wyoming's Constitution established three branches of government: the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
The Wyoming state legislature comprises a House of Representatives with 60 members and a Senate with 30 members.
The executive branch is headed by the governor and includes a secretary of state, auditor, treasurer and superintendent of public instruction. Wyoming does not have a lieutenant governor. Instead the secretary of state stands first in the line of succession.
Wyoming's sparse population warrants it only a single at-large seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, and hence only three votes in the Electoral College. Its low population renders Wyoming voters effectively more powerful in presidential elections than those in more populous states. For example, while Montana had a 2000 census population of 902,195 to Wyoming's 493,782, they both have the same number of electoral votes.
Wyoming is an alcoholic beverage control state.
Wyoming's highest court is the Supreme Court of Wyoming, with five justices presiding over appeals from the state's lower courts. Wyoming is unusual in that it does not have an intermediate appellate court, like most states. This is largely attributable to the state's size and correspondingly lower caseload. Appeals from the state district courts go directly to the Wyoming Supreme Court. Wyoming also has state circuit courts (formerly county courts), of limited jurisdiction, which handle certain types of cases, such as civil claims with lower dollar amounts, misdemeanor criminal offenses, and felony arraignments. Circuit court judges also commonly hear small claims cases as well. All state court judges in Wyoming are nominated by the Judicial Nominating Commission and appointed by the Governor. They are then subject to a retention vote by the electorate.
Wyoming has historically been a conservative, Republican state. Its congressional delegation in Washington comprises its two Senators, Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, and its one member of the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis. All three are Republicans. The state has not voted for a Democrat for president since 1964, one of only five times since statehood. There are only two reliably Democratic counties in the state: Teton and Albany County. In the 2004 presidential election, George W. Bush won his second-largest victory, with 69% of the vote. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is a Wyoming resident and represented the state in Congress from 1979 to 1989. However, after his term, he resided primarily in Texas, a fact that drew mild criticism from his political opponents when he changed his voter registration back to Wyoming prior to joining George W. Bush's ticket in the 2000 Presidential election.
Republicans are no less dominant at the state level. They have held a majority in the state senate continuously since 1936 and in the state house since 1964. However, Democrats have held the governorship for all but eight years since 1975. Democrat Dave Freudenthal was elected in 2002 and has one of the highest approval ratings of any governor in the USA.[citation needed] Uniquely, Wyoming elected Democrat Nellie Tayloe Ross as the first women in US history to serve as state govenor. She served from 1925 to 1927 after winning a special election after her husband, govenor at the time, unexpectedly died.[28]
The State of Wyoming has 23 counties.
| Wyoming Counties Ranked By 2005 Population[29] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | County | Population | Rank | County | Population |
| 1 | Laramie County | 85,163 | 13 | Converse County | 12,766 |
| 2 | Natrona County | 69,799 | 14 | Goshen County | 12,243 |
| 3 | Sweetwater County | 37,975 | 15 | Big Horn County | 11,333 |
| 4 | Campbell County | 37,405 | 16 | Platte County | 8,619 |
| 5 | Fremont County | 36,491 | 17 | Washakie County | 7,933 |
| 6 | Albany County | 30,890 | 18 | Johnson County | 7,721 |
| 7 | Sheridan County | 27,389 | 19 | Sublette County | 6,926 |
| 8 | Park County | 26,664 | 20 | Weston County | 6,671 |
| 9 | Uinta County | 19,939 | 21 | Crook County | 6,182 |
| 10 | Teton County | 19,032 | 22 | Hot Springs County | 4,537 |
| 11 | Lincoln County | 15,999 | 23 | Niobrara County | 2,286 |
| 12 | Carbon County | 15,331 | Wyoming Total | 509,294 | |
In 2005, 52.4% of Wyomingites lived in one of the five most populous Wyoming counties.
Wyoming license plates contain a number on the left that indicates the county in which the vehicle is registered. The county license plate numbers are as follows:
| Number on License Plate |
County | Number on License Plate |
County | Number on License Plate |
County |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natrona | 9 | Big Horn | 17 | Campbell |
| 2 | Laramie | 10 | Fremont | 18 | Crook |
| 3 | Sheridan | 11 | Park | 19 | Uinta |
| 4 | Sweetwater | 12 | Lincoln | 20 | Washakie |
| 5 | Albany | 13 | Converse | 21 | Weston |
| 6 | Carbon | 14 | Niobrara | 22 | Teton |
| 7 | Goshen | 15 | Hot Springs | 23 | Sublette |
| 8 | Platte | 16 | Johnson |
The State of Wyoming has 98 incorporated municipalities.
| Rank | City | County | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | City of Cheyenne | Laramie County | 55,731 |
| 2 | City of Casper | Natrona County | 51,738 |
| 3 | City of Laramie | Albany County | 26,050 |
| 4 | City of Gillette | Campbell County | 22,685 |
| 5 | City of Rock Springs | Sweetwater County | 18,772 |
| 6 | City of Sheridan | Sheridan County | 16,333 |
| 7 | City of Green River | Sweetwater County | 11,787 |
| 8 | City of Evanston | Uinta County | 11,459 |
| 9 | City of Riverton | Fremont County | 9,430 |
| 10 | City of Cody | Park County | 9,100 |
| 11 | Town of Jackson | Teton County | 9,038 |
| 12 | City of Rawlins | Carbon County | 8,658 |
| 13 | City of Lander | Fremont County | 6,898 |
| 14 | City of Douglas | Converse County | 5,581 |
| 15 | City of Torrington | Goshen County | 5,533 |
| 16 | City of Powell | Park County | 5,288 |
| 17 | City of Worland | Washakie County | 4,967 |
| 18 | City of Buffalo | Johnson County | 4,290 |
| 19 | Town of Wheatland | Platte County | 3,464 |
| 20 | City of Newcastle | Weston County | 3,221 |
In 2005, 50.6% of Wyomingites lived in one of the 13 most populous Wyoming municipalities.
The United States Census Bureau has defined two Metropolitan Statistical Areas and seven Micropolitan Statistical Areas for the State of Wyoming.
| Census Area | County | Population |
|---|---|---|
| Cheyenne, WY, Metropolitan Statistical Area | Laramie County, Wyoming | 85,163 |
| Casper, WY, Metropolitan Statistical Area | Natrona County, Wyoming | 69,799 |
| Rock Springs, WY, Micropolitan Statistical Area | Sweetwater County, Wyoming | 37,975 |
| Gillette, WY, Micropolitan Statistical Area | Campbell County, Wyoming | 37,405 |
| Riverton, WY, Micropolitan Statistical Area | Fremont County, Wyoming | 36,491 |
| Laramie, WY, Micropolitan Statistical Area | Albany County, Wyoming | 30,890 |
| Sheridan, WY, Micropolitan Statistical Area | Sheridan County, Wyoming | 27,389 |
| Jackson, WY-ID, Micropolitan Statistical Area | Teton County, Wyoming | 19,032 |
| Teton County, Idaho | 7,467 | |
| Total | 26,499 | |
| Evanston, WY, Micropolitan Statistical Area | Uinta County, Wyoming | 19,939 |
In 2005, 30.4% of Wyomingites lived in either of the Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and 73% lived in either a Metropolitan Statistical Area or a Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Public education is directed by the state superintendent of public instruction, an elected state official. Educational policies are set by the State Board of Education, a nine-member board appointed by the governor. The constitution prohibits the state from establishing curriculum and text book selections; these are the prerogatives of local school boards. The Wyoming School for the Deaf was the only in-state school dedicated to supporting deaf students in Wyoming, but it closed in summer of 2000.
Wyoming has one public four-year institution, the University of Wyoming in Laramie. In addition, there are seven two-year community colleges spread through the state.
Prior to the passing of a new law in 2006, Wyoming had hosted unaccredited institutions, many of them suspected diploma mills.[32] The 2006 law is forcing unaccredited institutions to make one of three choices, move out of Wyoming, close down, or apply for accreditation. The Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization predicts that in a few years the problem of diploma mills residing in Wyoming might be resolved.[33]
Wyoming was chosen as the official state for the Free State Wyoming project; a splinter of the Free State Project. The purpose of the project is to relocate Libertarians to a single state, making it possible to live a "free life".
In 2008, The American State Litter Scorecard rated Wyoming a nationally Best state for statewide litter eradication from public properties, having the highest total objective and subjective ranking scores for the Western United States, followed by Oregon.
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| Preceded by Idaho |
List of U.S. states by date of statehood Admitted on July 10, 1890 (44th) |
Succeeded by Utah |
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| Translations: Wyoming |
Français (French)
n. - Wyoming
Português (Portuguese)
n. - Wyoming
Español (Spanish)
n. - Wyoming
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
怀俄明州
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 懷俄明州
한국어 (Korean)
와이오밍 (미국 북서부의 주; 주도 Cheyenne; (약 ) Wy., WY., Wyo.; 속칭 Equality State, Sagebrush State)
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - וויאומינג
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