Wyoming Trivia & Tidbits

Looking for Wyoming trivia? Try our list Wyoming little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Olympic shot-putter John Godina was raised in Cheyenne (pop. 53,011), where he attended Cheyenne Central High School. With nine Olympic and World Championships medals to his credit, he is considered one of the most decorated throwers in track-and-field history. Godina was born in 1972 in Fort Sill, Okla.

first appeared: 3/7/2010

In 1939, a group of political and business leaders in Sheridan (pop. 15,804) who were unhappy with President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal proposed the creation of the new state of Absaroka from parts of Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota. A governor was appointed, license plates were issued, and Miss Absaroka 1939 was crowned.

first appeared: 2/21/2010

Last August, at age 47, Kelly Perkins, of Laguna Niguel, Calif., became the first heart transplant recipient to climb 10 peaks in the Teton Range, including Grand Teton (13,766 feet), a series of climbs called the Grand Traverse. Perkins, who received a heart transplant in 1995, accomplished the feat to encourage more people to become organ donors.

first appeared: 2/7/2010

The historic Remount Ranch in Buford was so named in the 1930s because of its role in providing remount horses to the U.S. cavalry traveling to and from Cheyenne (pop. 53,011). The ranch is where Mary Sture-Vasa, under the pen name of Mary O'Hara, wrote her bestsellers, including My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead, Green Grass of Wyoming and Wyoming Summer.

first appeared: 1/24/2010

Colorful rock terraces of travertine, formed from mineral-laden underground water, highlight Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. Microorganisms and living bacteria turn the rock shades of orange, pink, yellow, green, and brown.

first appeared: 1/24/2010

Kemmerer (pop. 2,651), seat of Lincoln County (pop. 14,573), has a town triangle instead of a town square. Often called Triangle Park, the downtown area is home to the first J.C. Penney store (then called the Golden Rule) and the Penney family's first home, which was restored in 1982 and moved to the Triangle.

first appeared: 1/10/2010

In its more than 100 years, the Vee Bar Guest Ranch near Laramie (pop. 27,204) served as a stagecoach stop, a cattle ranch and a boys school. Today, the Vee Bar is a guest ranch and bed-and-breakfast and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

first appeared: 12/27/2009

The Grattan Massacre of 1854 near Fort Laramie (pop. 243) started when a cow belonging to an Oregon Trail immigrant wandered into a Lakota Indian camp and was killed and eaten. An inexperienced and hotheaded Lt. John L. Grattan was dispatched with 29 soldiers to capture the cow killer, sparking a gunfight that left Grattan and all but one of his men dead.

first appeared: 12/13/2009

A wooden water tower just east of Lusk (pop. 1,447) serves as a reminder of the area's railroad heritage. The Lusk Water Tower was built for the Chicago and North Western Rail Line in 1886. A windmill pumped water from a well to the tank and then discharged it into steam locomotives for boilers.

What started as a college project for Patrick Zimmerer now is the largest winery in the state. Table Mountain Vineyards & Winery in Huntley (pop. 21) began with 300 grapevines in 2001 and has grown to more than 10 acres and about 10,000 vines.

first appeared: 11/29/2009

The remains of prehistoric stone quarries known as the "Spanish Diggings" are located in a 400-square-mile area in Niobrara (pop. 2,407), Platte (pop. 8,807) and Goshen (pop. 12,538) counties. Plains Indians dug the pits for quartzite to fabricate stone tools. A cowboy came across the site in 1879 and gave it its name, mistakenly thinking that Spaniards had dug the pits for gold.

first appeared: 11/15/2009

Travelers along the Pilot Butte Wild Horse Scenic Loop, a 50-mile stretch of road between Rock Springs (pop. 18,708) and Green River (pop. 11,808), have a chance to see herds of wild horses. They also may spot elk, antelope and coyotes, depending on the time of year.

Volunteers in towns throughout the state provide food for about 350 bicyclists who participate in the six-day Tour de Wyoming each summer. Begun in 1997 to promote fitness, the bicycle tour covers several hundred miles and takes a different route each year.

first appeared: 11/1/2009

Built in 1866, Fort Phil Kearny was the largest of three frontier forts protecting travelers on the Bozeman Trail. During its two-year existence, the fort was the focal point of battles between the U.S. Army and Indian tribes opposed to intrusions into their hunting grounds. Today, the fort ruins are part of a state historical site in Story (pop. 887) with an interpretive center, exhibits and self-guided tours of the fort and outlying sites.

first appeared: 10/18/2009

One of the first pilot plants in the nation to turn waste wood into ethanol is located in Upton (pop. 872). KL Energy Corp.'s plant can produce up to 1.5 million gallons of ethanol a year from fallen and dead trees, brush and forest debris.

Cheyenne (pop. 53,011) was named by True West magazine as the No. 1 Western Town for 2009. The magazine's editors identified the town's historic districts, its new livery stable and the state Capitol's $1.2 million skylight restoration as factors in their selection.

first appeared: 10/4/2009

Lovejoy's Bar & Grill in Laramie (pop. 27,204) was named after Elmer Lovejoy, who in 1897-98 built the first car in the state. A Laramie businessman, Lovejoy also invented an automobile steering mechanism and an automatic door opener.

Cowboys named Whoopup Canyon near Newcastle (pop. 3,065) for the spring floods that "whooped" their way through the canyon. The area is known for its ancient petroglyphs, which depict communal hunting.

first appeared: 9/20/2009

The first cable TV system in the state was activated in Casper (pop. 49,644) in 1953. Although it was not the first cable system in the nation, it was the first to relay a broadcast signal using microwave technology.

first appeared: 9/6/2009

The wooden walls of Sheridan's (pop. 15,804) famous Mint Bar are covered with hundreds of carvings of local cattle brands. Outside, cattle brands are depicted in neon beneath a large neon sign of a wrangler on a bucking horse.

For the second time, Nikki Steffes of the University of Wyoming in Laramie (pop. 27,204) has won the women's all-around title at the College National Finals Rodeo, held in June in Casper (pop. 49,644). Steffes, a native of Vale, S.D., won the title the first time in 2007.

first appeared: 8/23/2009

Visitors to the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historical Site in Laramie (pop. 27,204) can try their hand at making brooms, much as inmates did a century ago. In May, the state reopened the prison's broom factory after a two-year renovation.

first appeared: 8/9/2009

Taking Chance, the 2009 HBO movie starring Kevin Bacon, depicts the cross-country escort of the body of fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps to Dubois (pop. 962), Phelps' hometown. Phelps, 19, was killed in 2004 by hostile fire in Iraq.

first appeared: 7/26/2009

—At 12 stories, or 200 feet high, White Hall and McIntyre Hall, twin dormitories at the University of Wyoming in Laramie (pop. 27,204), are the tallest buildings in the state. They are dwarfed, though, by the 700-foot tower antenna owned by the U.S. Coast Guard near Gillette (pop. 19,646).

first appeared: 7/12/2009

—Cook Lake in Sublette County (pop. 5,920) produced the world record golden trout in 1948. The fish, caught by Charles S. Reed of Omaha, Neb., was 28 inches long and weighed 11 pounds, 4 ounces.

first appeared: 6/28/2009

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