Wyoming Trivia & Tidbits

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

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

—The Cheyenne Depot in Cheyenne (pop. 53,011) is one of the last grand 19th-century depots remaining on the transcontinental railroad. Formerly known as the Union Pacific Railroad Depot, it now houses the Cheyenne Depot Museum, which chronicles how rails shaped the West. The 1886-87 Richardsonian Romanesque building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006, after several restorations.

first appeared: 6/14/2009

—Casper (pop. 49,644) was named for Lt. Caspar Collins, who was stationed in Platte Bridge Station. In 1865, Collins was killed while defending a wagon train against Indian warriors. The outpost was renamed Fort Caspar, but when the city grew around it, its name was misspelled with an "e." Today, the restored fort retains the original spelling.

first appeared: 5/31/2009

—Established in 1882, The Bozeman Trail Inn in Big Horn (pop. 198) is the oldest operating bar in the state. The tin-topped, wooden-slatted inn serves meat and potatoes and more. Established in 1884, Hartville (pop. 76) is the oldest incorporated town that is still in existence in the state. The town was first settled in the 1870s by miners looking for gold, silver, copper, onyx and iron.

first appeared: 5/17/2009

—S.H. Hardin, a local rancher, named Ranchester (pop. 701) in 1894 by combining "ranch" with "chester," a common ending for town names in his native England. In 1907, nearby Fort Custer was renamed Hardin in his honor. Lander (pop. 6,867) has been called "The City of Bronze," primarily because of the Eagle Bronze Foundry located in the town's industrial park. The foundry, one of the largest in the country, was established in 1986 and cast Dallas' cattle drive bronze monument, and the 36-foot-tall sculpture of colonizer Don Juan de Onate rearing back on his horse, for the El Paso (Texas) International Airport.

first appeared: 5/3/2009

–In addition to varieties of trout, the Saratoga National Fish Hatchery, near Saratoga (pop. 1,726), breeds the endangered Wyoming toad for release into the wild.

first appeared: 4/19/2009

—Ten Sleep (pop. 304) may be a remote location, but it is home to Eleutian Technology, a company that teaches English to Koreans half a world away. The two-year-old company has about 300 teachers hooked up to Skype, the free online calling and person-to-person video service, to teach English to more than 15,000 students in South Korea.

first appeared: 4/5/2009

—The Mormon Handcart Visitors' Center near Alcova (pop. 20) commemorates the trek across the prairies by Mormon pioneers. In 1856, while traveling from Iowa City, Iowa, to Salt Lake City, Utah, the Martin and Willie handcart companies of about 1,000 people were caught in a blizzard, and more than 100 died from exposure and starvation. At the center, visitors can view exhibits about the tragedy and pull handcarts to what is now known as Martin's Cove, where the pioneers sought shelter from the cold.

first appeared: 3/22/2009

––A few years ago, Willis Larson steered away from the traditional ranch life to raise yaks, bovines that come from the Himalayas in Tibet and Nepal. Larson and his wife, Robbie, have raised as many as 80 yaks for their low-fat meat, on a 500-acre ranch near Cheyenne (pop. 53,011).

The official state grass, adopted in 2007, is Western wheatgrass, a tough native prairie grass that is valuable for livestock feed and erosion control.

first appeared: 3/8/2009

—The state’s oldest steam engine, No. 1242, called Ol’ Sadie, is displayed at Cheyenne Botanic Gardens in Lions Park in Cheyenne (pop. 53,011). Built in 1890, the steam engine ran the Walcott-Saratoga-Encampment line from 1921 until 1954, when the Union Pacific railroad donated it to the city.

first appeared: 2/22/2009

—A wooden sculpture of an American Indian carved in 1980 by artist Peter Toth stands at 10th Street and Big Horn Avenue in Worland (pop. 5,250). Titled Indian Brave No. 36, the sculpture is part of the artist’s “Trail of the Whispering Giants” series on display in the United States and Canada.

first appeared: 2/8/2009

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