Wyoming Trivia & Tidbits - Page 17

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

The daily newspaper in Laramie (pop. 27,204) has the distinction of being the only newspaper in the country named after a mule. The Laramie Boomerang, created in 1881 by humorist Bill Nye, was named for Nye’s mule. Nye said he named the mule “Boomerang” because every time he tried to get rid of the animal, it came back to him.

first appeared: 3/31/2002

That famous Hole-in-the-Wall hideout used by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is actually land near Kaycee (pop. 249). The name refers to both the valley surrounding the Middle Fork of the Powder River and the narrow opening in the red wall that was the only eastern entrance to the valley. Other famous outlaws used the valley as a hideout as well, including Jesse James and George “Flat Nose” Currie.

first appeared: 3/24/2002

Water from the Teton Wilderness flows into two different oceans. Two Ocean Creek is split by a rock, with one branch—the Atlantic Creek—heading east and eventually flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. The other, the Pacific Creek, heads west and flows into the Pacific.

first appeared: 3/17/2002

The Vore Buffalo Jump near Sundance (pop. 1,161) contains the bones of an estimated 20,000 buffalo driven over the edge of a sinkhole by American Indians over a 300-year period. American Indians drove the buffalo over the jump to kill them for food and clothing.

first appeared: 3/10/2002

Casper is known as an oil town today, but its first business had to do with water. Brigham Young and some of his Latter-Day Saint settlers established a ferry across the North Platte River in 1847, charging non-church members $1.50 per wagon to cross. Competition surfaced, and by 1849, several different ferries were available. But wagons still had to wait up to one week to cross the river.

first appeared: 3/3/2002

Freedom (pop. 100) is a divided town—literally. Half of the town’s main street is in Wyoming, the other half in neighboring Idaho. Freedom was founded in 1879 by members of the Latter-Day Saints Church.

first appeared: 2/24/2002

The first descriptions of what would become Yellowstone National Park were dismissed as the tall tales of a noted explorer. In 1810, John Colter told dubious listeners of a land filled with hissing geysers and bubbling mudpots. Before his observations were confirmed by an exploration in 1870, the area he described was dubbed “Colter’s Hell.”

first appeared: 2/24/2002

Wyoming, the first state to give women the right to vote, was also the first state to elect a woman governor. Nellie Tayloe Ross was elected in 1924 to fill out the unexpired term of her husband, William Ross, who died after two years in office. She was defeated in her re-election bid in 1926 but went on to become the first woman to direct the U.S. Mint.

first appeared: 2/17/2002

Thayne (pop. 341) claims to have created cutter races, now a sporting event in several Western states. Teams of two horses pull chariots around a frozen track in the sport said to have started in the 1920s when dairymen would race to be first to unload their milk at the local creamery.

first appeared: 2/10/2002

The horses on Buffalo’s carousel are carved to resemble Western horses rather than the circus horses found on most carousels. The custom-carved horses include several American Indian paint ponies and one bronc that resembles Steamboat, the legendary rodeo bucking horse said to have been ridden only twice before his death.

first appeared: 2/3/2002

Rawlins (pop. 8,538) got its name because a thirsty general got a drink there. U.S. Army Gen. John Rawlins in 1867 met up with some railroad surveyors, and the group found an alkali-free spring. Rawlins took a drink and is reported to have said “If anything is ever named after me, I hope it will be a spring of water.” The railroad crew promptly named the spring “Rawlins Spring.” The name stuck when a town went up in 1868 and was later shortened to simply “Rawlins.”

first appeared: 1/27/2002

The first woman to vote in an open and public election cast her ballot in Laramie (pop. 27,204). Eliza Gardner “Grandma” Swain went to the polls Sept. 6, 1870, cementing Wyoming’s status as the first state to grant women the right to vote.

first appeared: 1/20/2002

Old Faithful may be Yellowstone National Park’s most famous geyser, but it is not the park’s largest. Steamboat Geyser’s eruptions generally reach only 10 to 40 feet, but once in a while, it spouts to more than 300 feet. That makes it the tallest geyser in the world. The eruptions are completely unpredictable and can go on for more than three hours.

first appeared: 1/13/2002

The Sunlight Creek Bridge is the highest in Wyoming. The bridge in Sunlight Basin near Cody (pop. 8,835) spans a 1,200-foot gorge.

first appeared: 1/13/2002

The first photographs of the area that is now Yellowstone National Park helped convince Congress to create the park in the late 1800s. William H. Jackson accompanied Ferdinand Hayden on his expedition into the area in 1871, and Jackson’s photographs helped sway Congress to create the world’s first national park.

first appeared: 1/6/2002

The Union Pacific Railroad Depot in Cheyenne has the world’s largest operating steam engine. With its coal tender attached, the engine is more than 121 feet long. One of a class dubbed the “Challengers” built between 1936 and 1943, it was retired in 1962. But the engine was refurbished and is now used for occasional excursions.

first appeared: 12/30/2001

The longest nonstop ride recorded during the short life of the Pony Express was made in Wyoming by a 14-year-old named William F. Cody—later known as “Buffalo Bill.” In 1860, Cody rode more than 320 miles in a little more than 21 hours, using 21 different horses.

first appeared: 12/23/2001

Hundreds of small stone quarries stretching more than 100 miles can be found near Hartville (pop. 76). Early pioneers believed the holes were places where Spanish explorers mined gold. They were actually left by American Indians, who mined the area for thousands of years seeking material for their arrowheads.

first appeared: 12/16/2001

A six-year slump in tourism at Yellowstone National Park was reversed in 1915 when the first car was allowed to enter the park. That year, annual visitor numbers jumped to more than 51,000 from the previous record of 32,000 set in 1909, and the numbers climbed to 260,000 by 1929. In 1999, more than 4.1 million people visited the park.

first appeared: 12/9/2001

The Pitts Special, a world-famous stunt airplane, is manufactured at the Aviat Aircraft facility in Afton (pop. 1,818). Aviat got its start in the 1940s producing airplanes for agricultural uses and later branched out into the aerobatic airplane market.

first appeared: 12/2/2001

jump to page: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21

newspaper partner login create account

Recent

Popular

Recipes

Below are the most recent American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile recipes:

Relish

Spry

Below are the most recent articles from our Relish sister site. Click on the "Spry" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.

Below are the most recent articles from our Spry sister site. Click on the "Relish" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.