Wyoming Trivia & Tidbits - Page 10

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

The Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park is one of the largest log structures in the world. Designed by R.C. Reamer, it is built entirely of native timber and stone and was completed in 1904. The majestic inn stretches upward almost 90 feet and contains more than 300 rooms. Guests can watch eruptions of Old Faithful Geyser from balconies or relax by one of the two massive stone fireplaces inside the inn’s great hall.

first appeared: 4/18/2004

Wyoming’s first dude ranch (the nation’s second) was founded when brothers Howard, Willis, and Alden Eaton wanted a more suitable and varied riding terrain for friends from the East who stayed for months at the North Dakota ranch they established in 1879. When one guest suggested the brothers charge for the experience, the dude ranch industry was born. They moved to Sheridan County in 1904.

first appeared: 4/11/2004

Residents of Wyoming have one of the nation’s lowest average commute times to work at nearly 18 minutes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The national average is 25.5 minutes.

first appeared: 4/11/2004

Fur trapper Davey Jackson’s name is found all over northwestern Wyoming. In the early 1800s, Jackson roamed the valley or “hole” that would later bear his name—Jackson’s Hole. The name was later shortened to Jackson Hole and became the home to the city of Jackson (pop. 8,647). Jackson Lake is located south of Yellowstone National Park.

first appeared: 4/4/2004

Yellowstone National Park has the largest mountain lake in the United States. Yellowstone Lake, which is 7,733 feet above sea level, covers 137 square miles and has 110 miles of shoreline. The lake has the largest population of wild cutthroat trout in North America.

first appeared: 4/4/2004

The pronghorn antelope, which is found in the state and can briefly attain speeds of 70 mph, is not a true antelope at all. The true antelope’s closest North American relative is the Rocky Mountain goat.

first appeared: 3/28/2004

The International Climbers’ Festival is held every July in Lander (pop. 6,867), near the Wind River Range. Organizers say the area is “surrounded by an absurd amount of high quality (climbing) rock.”

first appeared: 3/21/2004

Robert Stuart discovered the South Pass about 40 miles south of Lander in 1812, providing a relatively easy route across the Rocky Mountains. The California Trail, Mormon Trail and Oregon Trail all passed through the broad gap in the mountains.

first appeared: 3/21/2004

The University of Wyoming was founded in Laramie (pop. 27,204) in 1886, four years before Wyoming became a state. It opened with one building, five professors, two tutors, and 42 students. Today, it offers more than 180 programs of study.

first appeared: 3/14/2004

Newspaper editor and humorist Edgar Wilson “Bill” Nye of Laramie (pop. 27,204) wrote in 1880 that the state’s summers were so short that “the early frosts make close connections with the late spring blizzards, so there is only time for a hurried lunch between.”

first appeared: 3/14/2004

Evidence of gold was discovered in the Rattlesnake Hills in 1981, leading to considerable exploration since then. One large-tonnage, low-grade deposit is said to have the potential for a million ounces of gold.

first appeared: 3/7/2004

The Wyoming Frontier Prison Museum in Rawlins (pop. 9,380) is housed in an actual prison that was open from 1901 until 1981.

first appeared: 3/7/2004

Wyoming has been the site of several movie sets, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Any Which Way You Can, Rocky IV, Starship Troopers, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and The Vanishing.

first appeared: 2/29/2004

The Red Desert in south-central Wyoming drains neither east nor west. Instead, the Continental Divide splits and goes around the desert on all sides, leaving the basin without normal drainage.

first appeared: 2/29/2004

Eric Charles Stemle, a language arts teacher at Evanston (pop. 11,507) High School, was named Wyoming’s 2003 Teacher of the Year.

first appeared: 2/22/2004

In 1925, Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first female governor of a U.S. state.

first appeared: 2/22/2004

Old Faithful, in Yellowstone National Park, is the most famous of the world’s six “grand geysers,” defined as those which erupt 100 feet or more on a predictable daily basis. The word geyser is Danish in origin, from geysir, meaning a “gusher” or “spouter.”

first appeared: 2/15/2004

During Prohibition, the bootlegging industry in Kemmerer (pop. 3,020) became so active that the town earned the nickname “Little Chicago.” A local newspaper is called the Little Chicago Review today.

first appeared: 2/8/2004

Wyoming leads the nation in coal production, mining roughly a million tons a day in 2001—ahead of its closest competitors, West Virginia and Kentucky.

first appeared: 2/1/2004

In 1902, James Cash Penney opened the Golden Rule Store next to the Opera House Saloon in Kemmerer (pop. 2,651). In 1913, he incorporated the business as J.C. Penney Co.

first appeared: 2/1/2004

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