Wyoming Trivia & Tidbits - Page 18

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

The bachelor’s quarters at Fort Laramie were nicknamed “Old Bedlam” for the antics of junior officers who lived there. The 1849 building near Lingle (pop. 510) is Wyoming’s oldest standing frame structure.

first appeared: 11/25/2001

Sinclair (pop. 423) twice has been named for companies that ran the oil refinery the town is built around. Founded in 1932 to house employees of the Producers Oil and Refining Co. (Parco), the town was called Parco. When the Sinclair Oil Co. bought out Parco in 1934, the town’s name was changed to Sinclair.

first appeared: 11/25/2001

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Evanston (pop. 11,507) boasted a sizable Chinese population who worked in area coal mines. Their influence was so significant that a Taoist temple or “Joss House” was built there in 1894—one of only three in the United States. The temple burned down in 1922. A replica was built in 1990, and visitors can see displays of artifacts from Evanston’s Chinatown.

first appeared: 11/18/2001

A pyramid rising from the high plains near Laramie is actually a monument to two promoters of the transcontinental railroad. The 60-foot granite structure was built in 1882 to honor Oliver and Oakes Ames, shovel manufacturers from Massachusetts who pushed for the building of America’s first coast-to-coast railroad. The pyramid once marked the highest point of the railroad, but the tracks have since been moved.

first appeared: 11/11/2001

The first true farming in Wyoming occurred in 1854 in the Bridger Valley near what is now Lyman (pop. 1,938). Although residents in other areas had vegetable gardens, the people in an area known as Fort Supply raised the first potatoes and grains in the state. American Indians in the area mostly hunted and gathered wild plants.

first appeared: 11/4/2001

Almost half of Wyoming’s 97,914 square miles is controlled by the federal government. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and U.S. Forest Service own almost 30 million acres of the land in Wyoming, or about 48 percent of its surface.

first appeared: 10/28/2001

A dam built near Thermopolis (pop. 3,172) more than 40 years ago never has filled because it won’t hold water. The area behind the Anchor Dam is full of sinkholes, so water seeps from the reservoir back into the ground.

first appeared: 10/21/2001

The first paint used on the Brooklyn Bridge was a mineral-based paint known as Rawlins Red. It came from the Red Paint mines near Rawlins (pop. 8,538) in 1874.

first appeared: 10/21/2001

Rodeos were common throughout the West in the 1800s, but Lander (pop. 6,867) claims to have held the first rodeo where cowboys were paid for their efforts. Lander’s first rodeo was held in 1893, and the annual “Pioneer Days Rodeo” has been held on the Fourth of July ever since.

first appeared: 10/14/2001

The first Wyoming football game ever to be played at night under artificial light took place in Midwest (pop. 408) in November 1925 between Casper and Midwest high schools.

first appeared: 10/7/2001

The 2-inch Kendall Warm Springs dace, one of the rarest fish in the world, can be found only in the 85-degree water of the Kendall Warm Springs near Cora (pop. 76).

first appeared: 10/7/2001

The Shoshone and Arapaho Indian tribes sold 10 square miles of the Wind River Indian Reservation to the U.S. government in 1896. Shoshone Chief Washakie stipulated in the sale that water from the Big Springs (a hot springs) be available at no charge to all people—leading to the creation of Hot Springs State Park near Thermopolis (pop. 3,172).

first appeared: 9/30/2001

The Medicine Wheel, near Lovell (pop. 2,281), has mystified archaeologists for years. The wheel is made of a central pile of rocks with 28 “spokes,” also of rocks, stretching outward about 40 feet, connected by an outer ring of rocks. Researchers are uncertain who built the wheel between A.D. 1200 and 1700, or its significance, but the site is a sacred place to American Indian tribes, including the Northern Cheyenne, Crow, Shoshone, and Sioux.

first appeared: 9/23/2001

Every winter, more than 7,500 elk trek up to 65 miles to the 25,000-acre National Elk Refuge, near Jackson (pop. 8,647), seeking shelter from the harsh mountain winters. They graze on grass and eat feed provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But the elk pay for their meals: Antlers they shed during the winter are sold to raise money for the feed.

first appeared: 9/16/2001

The Diplodocus Bar in Medicine Bow (pop. 274) has the world’s largest jade bar. The 40-foot bar at the “Old Dip” bar was carved from a 4.5-ton jade boulder found in southwestern Wyoming.

first appeared: 9/9/2001

The first car in the state was test driven in Laramie (pop. 27,204) in 1898. Elmer Lovejoy built the car from pieces he purchased from various manufacturers.

first appeared: 9/2/2001

Visitors to Afton (pop. 1,818) are welcomed by an 18-foot arch made of elk antlers spanning the town’s main street. The arch contains 3,011 antlers.

first appeared: 8/26/2001

Wyoming’s first post office was built near its first military fort—Fort Laramie. The post office opened in the town of Fort Laramie (pop. 243), about three miles north of the fort itself, in 1850.

first appeared: 8/26/2001

Lovell (pop. 2,281) calls itself “The Rose City” because local gardens have so many roses. Dr. William Horsley, who lived in Lovell from 1924 until his death in 1971, started the rose mania. Horsley spent his life cultivating roses and became a national authority on them.

first appeared: 8/19/2001

The 1,645-acre Curt Gowdy State Park, near Cheyenne, is named for the Cheyenne native who became a famous sports announcer. Curt Gowdy announced Super Bowls, Olympic Games, and NCAA basketball championships, along with his record 12 World Series and two decades as host of television’s The American Sportsman. Gowdy was named National Sportscaster of the Year three times.

first appeared: 8/12/2001

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