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Wyoming in Depth
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Wyoming (wì-o´mîng), from the Algonquin words for "large prairie place" or "at the big
plain" is located in the western U.S., and is bordered on the east by South Dakota and Nebraska, on the south by Colorado and Utah, on the west by Idaho and Utah, and on
the north by Montana.
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General
Total Area (9th): 97,914 sq. mi (253,597 sq km). Land Area: 97,105 sq. mi. 1994 Population (Rank 50th):
475,981. Density: 4.8 per sq. mi. Highest Point: Gannett Peak, 13,804 ft (4,210 m). Lowest Point: Belle Fourche River, 3,100 ft (946 m).
Statehood: July 10, 1890. Rank: 44th. State Nickname: Equality State. Motto: Equal Rights. State Tree:
Cottonwood (Populus deltoides). State Flower: Indian Paintbrush. State Bird: Meadowlark. State Song: "Wyoming."
Capital: Cheyenne. Largest City: Cheyenne. Counties (23): Albany, Big Horn, Campbell, Carbon, Converse, Crook,
Fremont, Goshen, Hot Springs, Johnson, Laramie, Lincoln, Natrona, Niobrara, Park, Platte, Sheridan, Sublette, Sweetwater, Teton, Uinta, Washakie, Weston. Abbreviation: Wyo.,
WY.
Government
The state's Constitution, promulgated in 1890, provides for a governor serving a four-year term. The
legislative branch consists of a 30-member Senate with members serving four-year terms, and a 64-member House with members elected for two-year terms. Wyoming is represented
in the U.S. Congress by two senators and one representative and has three electoral votes.
The Governor is Jim Geringer (R - re-elected 1998). Wyoming's two Senators are Craig Thomas (R - elected 1994)
and Mike Enzi (R - elected 1996), and its Congresswoman is Barbara Cubin (R - elected 1994; re-elected 1998).
History
Before the opening of the West to settlers, present-day Wyoming was populated by a number of Plains Indian
tribes, including the Crow, Eastern Shoshone, Cheyenne, Northern Arapaho, and Sioux. Francés Francois and Louis La Verendrye were the first Europeans to explore the region in
1743, but the State's remoteness discouraged settlement.
During the early 19th Century, the first Europeans to move into the area were hunters, trappers and traders who
became known as "Mountain Men." With the decline of the fur trade, the area's few settlers turned to ranching and supplying wagon trains crossing the area on the
Oregon Trail, and later the Bozeman and Overland trails, which cut through the South Pass on their way west. Forts Laramie and Bridger became important stops on the pioneer
trail to the West Coast. Wyoming was aquired as part of the Louisiana Purchace of 1803.
Settlement was facilitated by the 1868 construction of the Union Pacific Railroad. With the advent of
large-scale ranching, the activities of rustlers and vigilante groups reached a climax in the 1892 cattle war of Johnson County, which was followed by similar conflicts
between cattle and sheep ranchers. Oil was discovered in the early 1880's, and production began in ernest in 1890.
In the 1920's, Wyoming's Teapot Dome oil deposits became the center of a corruption scandal involving the
administration of President Warren G. Harding. The 1970's energy crisis and resultant increase in domestic oil prices and demand caused a dramatic boom in Wyoming's economy,
especially coal mining. By the mid-1980s, however, the fall in prices and a lack of systemic diversity led to a sharp economic decline.
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Land and People
Eastern Wyoming is part of the Great Plains, with the exception of the Black Hills located in the northeast.
The Rocky Mountains and Continental Divide run through the western part of the state from southwest to northeast, and include
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the dramatic Wind River and Teton ranges. The climate is cool and dry, with mild summers and severe windy
winters. Almost half of the land is controlled by the federal government; the two largest such areas are the Wind River Indian Reservation and Yellowstone National Park.
Sparsely populated, Wyoming has the smallest population of any state. Almost two-thirds of its citizens live in urban areas. In the last Census, the population was 94% white,
with a significant Native American (2.1%) and Hispanic (5.7%)presence.
Famous Wyomingites:
- Jim Bridger, Buffalo Bill Cody, Nellie Tayloe Ross, Curt Gowdy: Japanese internment camps at Heart Mountain. Red Cloud: (1822-1909), Oglala Sioux leader, led the resistance to a trail through Wyoming and Montana that was to be developed by the U.S. government. Ester Hobart Morris: American suffragist who was instrumental in the passage of women's suffrage in Wyoming Territory (1869) and was the 1st woman justice of the peace in the U.S.
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Economy
Wyoming's economy is almost entirely dominated by resource production. Mining is the leading source of income;
the state is one of the leading U.S. producers of coal, oil, natural gas, uranium, and trona (sodium carbonate). Tourism is the second largest source of income, the principal
draws being Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, hunting and fishing. Livestock and agriculture are the third biggest economic sector, the former dominated by cattle
and sheep ranching. The principal dry farm crops are wheat, beans, barley, and oats; the leading irrigated crop is the sugar beet. The small industrial sector is dominated by
oil refining, food processing, and the manufacture of clay, glass, and wood products.
Facts and Figures
Economy - Livestock (1995): 1.4 million cattle; 51,000 hogs/pigs; 790,000 sheep.
Timber Production (1993): Ponderosa & Lodgepole Pine, Douglas Fir, Engelmann Spruce; Total 225 million board feet. Nonfuel Mineral Production (1994):
$781 million. Value of Construction (1994): $561.3 million. Tourism Receipts (1992): $1.5 billion. Employment Distribution (1992):
23% trade; 20% services; 9% mining. Unemployment (1994): 5.3%. State sales tax: 4%.
Finance - Per Capita Income (1994): $20,436. FDIC-insured Commercial Banks & Trust
Companies (1994): 53; Deposits: $5.3 billion. FDIC-insured Savings Institutions (1994): 5; Assets: $342 million.
Federal government - Federal Civilian Employees (Mar. 1994): 4,813. Avg. Salary: $34,985.
Notable federal facilities: Warren Air Force Base.
Energy - Electricity Production (1994, in kilowatts/hr by source):
Coal, 41.4 billion; Petroleum, 47 milliom; Gas,13 million; Hydroelectric, 897 million.
Education - Student-teacher ratio (1993): 15.4. Public School Teachers' Average Salary
(1994-95): $31,300.
Populations and Areas of Counties (1994) (23 counties, 97,105 sq mi land; pop. 475,981)
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County
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Pop.
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County Seat or Area Court House
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Land sq mi
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Albany
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31,079
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Laramie
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4,268
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Big Horn
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10,844
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Basin
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3,139
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Campbell
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30,890
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Gillette
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4,796
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Carbon
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16,247
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Rawlins
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7,877
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Converse
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11,704
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Douglas
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4,271
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Crook
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5,612
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Sundance
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2,855
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Fremont
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35,128
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Lander
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9,181
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Goshen
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12,602
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Torrington
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2,186
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Hot Springs
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4,699
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Thermopolis
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2,005
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Johnson
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6,503
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Buffalo
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4,166
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Laramie
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78,038
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Cheyenne
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2,684
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Lincoln
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13,665
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Kemmerer
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4,070
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Natrona
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63,885
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Casper
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5,347
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Niobrara
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2,554
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Lusk
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2,684
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Park
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24,928
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Cody
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6,936
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Platte
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8,311
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Wheatland
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2,023
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Sheridan
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24,828
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Sheridan
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2,532
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Sublette
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5,375
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Pinedale
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4,872
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Sweetwater
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40,661
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Green River
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10,352
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Teton
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13,152
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Jackson
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4,011
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Unita
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20,126
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Evanston
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2,085
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Washakie
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8,590
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Worland
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2,243
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Weston
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6,560
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Newcastle
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2,402
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Tourist Attractions
Yellowstone National Park, established in 1872, is the world's first national park and the largest in the
contiguous United States. Sprawling across volcanic plateaus in the northwest corner of the state, its 2.2 million acres (3,472 sq. mi) include steaming geysers, crystelline
lakes, thundering waterfalls, and panoramic vistas. The park is home to over 80 species of mammals including elk, moose, bear, and buffalo. For further information, contact
the National Park Service at: (307) 344-7381. For reservations and information for lodging, dining and activities, call:
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(307) 344- 7311.
Other Major Attractions. Grand Teton National Park, with mountains 13,000 ft. high; the National Elk Refuge,
covering 25,000 acres; Devils Tower, a free-standing columnar rock 1,280 ft. high left when the lava in the throat of a volcano hardened and the volcano itself eroded; Fort
Laramie and surrounding areas of pioneer trails; Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody; the famous Cheyenne Frontier Days Celebration, held in last full week in July, the state's
largest rodeo with the world's largest purse.
For more information about these and other exciting Wyoming attractions, write the Wyoming Travel Commission,
Etchapare Circle, Cheyenne, WY 82002 or call toll-free 1-(800) CALLWYO.
Wyoming Related Web Sites
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(Information obtained from Microsoft's Encarta/Bookshelf '99)
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