Wyoming Trivia & Tidbits - Page 5

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

Hikers along the Cottonwood Creek Dinosaur Trail near Alcova (pop. 20) can see fossil remains that date back millions of years when much of Wyoming was under water. In 1991, fossils of a medium-sized dinosaur were discovered by a fifth-grade class on a field trip from Casper (pop. 49,644), which is 30 miles away.

first appeared: 11/19/2006

—The colorful era known as the “winning of the West” is preserved at Fort Fetterman State Historic Site near Douglas (pop. 5,288). A restored officer’s quarters and ordnance warehouse can be seen at the 1867 military post.

first appeared: 11/5/2006

—Some of Sheridan’s (pop. 15,804) downtown buildings have the letter “K” engraved on top. John B. Kendrick, a successful rancher and politician, had the letter engraved on buildings he commissioned. Kendrick was a former governor and state and U.S. senator.

first appeared: 10/22/2006

Visitors to South Pass City can sip a sarsaparilla at the Miner’s Exchange Saloon while playing pool on a restored 1840s billiards table or shop in the Smith-Sherlock Company Store. It’s all part of the South Pass City State Historical Site, a complex of restored buildings south of Lander (pop. 6,867) that once made up a gold boomtown.

first appeared: 10/22/2006

—The tracks of pioneers can be seen in Guernsey (pop. 1,147), where the wheels of thousands of covered wagons wore ruts into sandstone in the mid-1800s. Wind and water erosion further deepened and preserved the tracks of the Oregon Trail.

first appeared: 10/8/2006

Horseback is one of the best ways to see the untamed 704,000-acre Washakie Wilderness near Dubois (pop. 962), where outfitters, trail guides, dude ranches and horse stables can be found. Bighorn sheep, elk and moose are among the many animals that inhabit the wilderness area.

first appeared: 10/8/2006

In 1949, the Merci Train arrived from France with 49 boxcars—one for each state and one for the District of Columbia and Territory of Hawaii—loaded with gifts of appreciation to America for the food and supplies sent to the war-torn country after World War II. The Wyoming Merci Boxcar is displayed at American Legion Post No. 6 in Cheyenne (pop. 53,011).

first appeared: 9/24/2006

Devils Tower was America's first national monument and celebrates its centennial this year. The almost vertical monolith in Crook County (pop. 5,887) rises 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River and was formed after millions of years of erosion wore away soft stone that surrounded volcanic igneous rock.

first appeared: 9/10/2006

Saints are welcome, too, in Sinnerville, a subdivision in Campbell County (pop. 33,698). In May, the county commission gave its blessing to the 42-acre subdivision, named for its developer, Jason Sinner. Some commissioners voted against the name, but Sinner said he is proud of his family name.

first appeared: 8/27/2006

The 1913 Moulton barn at Jackson Hole is one of the most photographed barns in the state. With the Grand Teton mountain range as its backdrop, the weathered barn has become an icon of the Old West, appearing on postcards, magazine covers, jigsaw puzzles, book jackets, road atlases and travel guides.

first appeared: 8/13/2006

Visitors get a rare glimpse of American Indian history in authentic Indian petroglyphs preserved at Castle Gardens, an archaeological site listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The stone carvings were used by ancient Indians to record their history. Castle Gardens is about 45 miles east of Riverton (pop. 9,310).

first appeared: 7/30/2006

Novelist Owen Wister placed the hero of his 1902 Western novel The Virginian in Medicine Bow (pop. 274), and the town has never forgotten the favor. Honoring the author in town are a pyramid-shaped monument of petrified wood, the Virginian Hotel, the Owen Wister General Store and his log cabin that was moved in from Jackson Hole. A town welcome sign includes those immortal words written by Wister: "When you call me that, smile."

first appeared: 7/16/2006

When copper was discovered in Encampment (pop. 443) in the late 1800s, the town flourished. The town's early mining days can be explored at the Grand Encampment Museum during Living History Days July 15 and 16, when its historical buildings, filled with artifacts, are open for tours.

first appeared: 7/2/2006

In January, Jamie Pierre skied off a cliff in the Grand Targhee ski area in Alta (pop. 400) and shattered a world record. The Salt Lake City resident's jump surpassed the previous world record of 225 feet. The cliff initially was measured at 245 feet, but a photographer returned the day after the jump and measured the drop-off at 255 feet.

first appeared: 7/2/2006

Following up on a tip from a local rockhound, researchers for the Wyoming State Geological Survey uncovered a 34-pound "common" opal last year near Sweetwater Station in Fremont County (pop. 35,804). Prospectors later staked claims on nearby government property, allowing them to look for opals of both the common and the more valuable "precious" varieties.

first appeared: 6/25/2006

Various species of thermophilic, or heat-loving bacteria, create a rainbow of color in Grand Prismatic Spring, located in Yellowstone National Park's Midway Geyser Basin. The 188-degree center of the hot spring—which, at some 370 feet across, is Yellowstone's largest—is generally blue, with bands of different bacteria creating yellow, orange and red areas as the water cools toward the banks.

first appeared: 6/4/2006

True West magazine has named Sheridan (pop. 15,804) this year's No. 1 Western Town in America. The community earned the honor for its authentic way of life, which includes hosting numerous Western-related events each year and preserving dozens of historic sites.

first appeared: 6/4/2006

Established in the late 1800s, Meeteetse (pop. 351) is named for an American Indian word interpreted as "meeting place" or "measured distance near and far." The town retains its Old West character with wooden sidewalks and watering troughs and many of its original buildings, including the 1901 building that originally housed the First National Bank of Meeteetse.

first appeared: 5/21/2006

Artist Hans Kleiber (1887-1967) arrived in Wyoming in the early 1900s, signing on as a U.S. Forest Service ranger. After retiring from the service in 1923, he began painting, teaching himself oils, watercolors and etchings, and developing a reputation as "the Artist of the Big Horn Mountains." His log-cabin studio and home is now a museum in Dayton (pop. 678).

first appeared: 5/14/2006

Visitors to the Dry Creek Petrified Tree Environmental Education Area, near Buffalo (pop. 3,900), can travel back in time some 60 million years. That's when sand and mud began to bury 800- to 1,000-year-old trees, which then absorbed minerals from the surrounding sediments. The minerals replaced the tree's soft tissues, eventually turning to rock.

first appeared: 5/14/2006

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