Wyoming Trivia & Tidbits - Page 12

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

Guernsey State Park, one mile northwest of Guernsey (pop. 1,147), contains some of the finest examples of Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) work in the Rocky Mountains. The park was created in 1933 when the CCC began projects such as hiking trails, roads, bridges, and buildings—notably, the Guernsey Museum, with its hand-hewn timbers, hand-forged ironwork, and floors of smooth flagstone quarried at Thermopolis (pop. 3,172).

first appeared: 9/14/2003

Niobrara County takes its name from the Niobrara River, which originates 10 miles southwest of Lusk (pop. 1,447), the county seat. The river’s name comes from the Omaha Indian word that means “water spreading and flowing through a plain.” Indeed, the river flows through the high plains of Wyoming and Nebraska.

first appeared: 9/7/2003

Vice President Richard (Dick) Cheney grew up in Casper (pop. 49,644) and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from the University of Wyoming. He served in the Nixon and Ford administrations, and returned in 1977 to Wyoming, which subsequently elected him the state’s U.S. representative six times. Cheney’s wife, Lynne, is also a native of Casper.

first appeared: 8/31/2003

Amelia Earhart dropped in to refuel at the airport in Rock Springs (pop. 18,708) in June 1931, on a coast-to-coast publicity tour with an autogiro plane (an aircraft that had unpowered rotating horizontal blades, somewhat like a helicopter).

first appeared: 8/24/2003

Created in 1968 as a refuge for a band of wild mustangs, the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range near Lovell (pop. 2,281) is home to between 120 and 160 wild horses, and is one of the few places where they can roam freely.

first appeared: 8/24/2003

In 2000, Wyoming ranked sixth in the nation for the highest percentage of high school graduates: 90 percent of the state’s 493,782 residents earned a high school diploma.

first appeared: 8/17/2003

The University of Wyoming in Laramie (pop. 27,204) opened Sept. 6, 1887, to 42 men and women—its first class. The university’s original building, Old Main, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, having served as a classroom, library, and administrative building.

first appeared: 8/17/2003

Campbell County, with Gillette (pop. 19,646) as its largest city, is known as the nation’s Energy Capital. The county produces more than 25 percent of the nation’s coal—almost 330 million tons in 2001—and also is the state’s largest oil producer.

first appeared: 8/10/2003

In 1836, Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spalding became the first white women to cross the continent overland, traveling the Oregon Trail with their missionary husbands. When they arrived June 13th at Fort William, which would later be renamed Fort Laramie (pop. 243), Spalding reported how good it was to see buildings again.

first appeared: 8/3/2003

Often called the “Stonehenge of the West,” the Medicine Wheel on the peak of Medicine Mountain 40 miles east of Lovell (pop. 2,281) features a central stone cairn from which 28 lines of flat stones radiate 75 feet out into a circle. Built around 1800, the wheel—which lines up with the rising and setting sun on the summer solstice (the longest day of the year)—is one of North America’s most important American Indian sacred sites, but its exact purpose and builders remain unknown.

first appeared: 7/27/2003

Wyoming’s Highway Patrol troopers drive more than 5 million miles a year patrolling the 6,500-mile state highway system. On average, they stop once every 30 miles to issue a citation or warning, or to assist a motorist. The state troopers issue some 75,000 citations and investigate more than 6,000 auto accidents annually.

first appeared: 7/20/2003

Born in Laramie (pop. 27,204) in 1875, June Etta Downey became one of the first psychologists to study personality scientifically, thus creating a basis for modern personality testing. She headed the University of Wyoming’s Department of Psychology and Philosophy from 1915 until her death in 1932, and was the first woman to hold such a position at a state university.

first appeared: 7/13/2003

The state adopted the horned lizard as its official reptile in 1993. Often called the horned toad, the lizard does resemble a toad, with its flat, broad shape. It gains its name from the sharp spines that protrude from its head and body, protecting it from predators.

first appeared: 7/6/2003

In 1997, Beulah (pop. 33) held one of the world’s largest parades for a town its size. The Fourth of July parade’s 193 entries included bicycles, horses, logging trucks, llamas, and three airplanes. The parade stretched for a mile, took an hour to travel past the town’s two-block business district, and attracted more than 1,000 spectators.

first appeared: 6/29/2003

The plains cottonwood was named the state’s official tree in 1947, inspired by a giant specimen found on the Paul Klein ranch near Thermopolis (pop. 3,172). The tree measured at least 50 feet tall, and 29 feet around its trunk. In the state’s centennial year of 1990, a new giant cottonwood was found—this time on the Flying X Ranch in Albany County. It was 64 feet tall and 31 feet around, and was believed to be about 100 years old.

first appeared: 6/22/2003

Carbon County is named for the extensive coal deposits in the area. In 1888, part of Carbon County became Natrona County, which was named for the natron, or soda, deposits found locally.

first appeared: 6/15/2003

Wyoming is the nation’s least populated state. With 493,782 people, it has less than 1 percent of the nation’s population of more than 280 million.

first appeared: 6/15/2003

Actress Isabel Jewell was born in Shoshoni (pop. 635) in 1907. Raised on a Wyoming ranch, her screen debut was in Blessed Event, released in 1932. She also was known for her appearances in Tale of Two Cities (1935), Lost Horizon (1937), and Gone with the Wind (1939).

first appeared: 6/8/2003

Artist Jackson Pollock was born in Cody (pop. 8,835) in January 1912. His art was widely exhibited in the United States and internationally, showing influences from Pablo Picasso, and the surrealism and abstract art movements.

first appeared: 6/1/2003

The state’s geographic center is in Fremont County, 58 miles east-northeast of Lander (pop. 6,867). Lander is located against the foothills of the Wind River Mountains on the banks of the Popo Agie River.

first appeared: 6/1/2003

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