Wyoming,
A Western inland State of the
United States, lying between lat. 41° and 45° N., and long.
104° and 111° W., is bounded on the north by
Montana, east by
South Dakota and
Nebraska, south by
Colorado and
Utah, and west by
Utah,
Idaho, and
Montana.
Area, 97,890 square miles, in twelve counties.
Population, 1890, 60,705; 1900, 92,531.
Capital,
Cheyenne.
Sieur de la Verendrye and his sons, from
Canada, travel as far south as
Wind River......1843-44
John Colter winters on the headwaters of
Pryor's Fork, 1806; visits
Shoshone Lake, crosses the
Rocky Mountains to the head of
Green River, and returns to the head of
Wind River and
Pryor's Fork......1807
Ezekiel Williams, trapper, wanders from the
Yellowstone to the
South Platte through
Wyoming......1807
First recorded expedition from the east, the
Pacific Fur Company, on the way to
Oregon under
Wilson Price Hunt, passes through
Wyoming, crossing Powder River Valley and
Big Horn Mountains to the
Wind River, thence to the
Snake River......1811
William H. Ashley, of the
North American Fur Company, with 300 men, explores the
Sweetwater and
Green rivers......1824
Capt. E. L. Bonneville leads the first caravan, 110 trappers and twenty wagons, from the
Platte through
South Pass to the
Green River.
At the junction of
Lead Creek he builds a fort......1832
William Sublette and
Robert Campbell erect a fort on Laramie Fork, which they name
Fort William, since
Fort Laramie.......1834
First emigrant train for
Oregon and
California crosses
Wyoming......1841
Fort Bridger erected on
Green River by
James Bridger, a famous trapper......1842
Col. J. C. Fremont, with a government exploring expedition, ascends and names
Fremont's Peak......1842
Mormon pioneers, led by
Brigham Young, pass
Fort Laramie on their way to
Great Salt Lake through
South Pass......June 1, 1847
Part of
Wyoming is included in the territory acquired by the
United States from
Mexico by the treaty of
Guadalupe-Hidalgo......Feb. 2, 1848
Fort Laramie transferred to the
United States......1849
Fort Bridger sold for $8,000 to the Mormons......1853
Sioux Indian war begins;
Lieutenant Grattan and twenty-eight men sent from
Fort Laramie to arrest an Indian who had shot a cow of a Mormon emigrant.
The
Indians refusing to give up the culprit,
Grattan fires, and the whole party are killed......summer of 1854
Sir George Gore, of
Sligo, Ireland, with his private hunting expedition, winters at
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Fort Laramie, 1854, and with
James Bridger as guide travels north to
Powder River......1855
Oil is collected from a spring near
Poison Spider Creek, and sold along the
Mormon trail for axle-grease......1863
Bill introduced in Congress by
James M. Ashley, of
Ohio, to provide a temporary government for “the
Territory of Wyoming” ......1865
Massacre of United States troops by the Indians in a sortie, under
Colonel Fetterman, from Fort Philip Kearny, near Big Horn; three officers and ninety men killed and scalped......Dec. 21, 1866
Cheyenne first settled, July, 1867, and a city government established, with
H. M. Hook as mayor......August, 1867
First newspaper published in the
Territory, the
Cheyenne Evening leader, Sept. 19;
Daily argus, Oct. 25; and
Rocky Mountain Star, Dec. 8......1867
First passenger train from
Omaha arrives at
Cheyenne......Nov. 13, 1867
Gold discovered on the sources of the
Sweetwater......1867
Laramie City located on the Union Pacific Railroad......April, 1868
Territory of Wyoming organized by act of Congress out of parts of
Dakota,
Utah, and
Idaho......July 25, 1868
Coal discovered three miles from
Evanston, 1868, and first mine opened......1869
Cheyenne designated as the capital of
Wyoming, and first territorial court held there......Sept. 7, 1869
Act approved giving women the right to vote and hold office in
Wyoming......Dec. 10, 1869
Grand jury of men and women impanelled at
Laramie......March 7, 1870
Lieut. Gustavus C. Doane makes a reconnoissance from Fort Ellis,
Montana, to
Yellowstone Lake, via
Gallatin River...... 1870
Act of Congress approved setting apart 3,575 square miles near the headwaters of the
Yellowstone as a public park......March 1, 1872
Military expedition under
Captain Jones proceeds north from
Bryan, on the Union Pacific Railroad, through the
Wind River Valley and the
Yellowstone National Park, to Fort Ellis......1873
Gov. William Hale dies......Jan. 13, 1885
Two hundred miners attack 400
Chinese, imported to work in the
Union Pacific Railroad coal-mines, and drive them to the hills, massacring many......Sept. 2, 1885
Treaty concluded with the Shoshones and Bannocks at
Fort Bridger, setting apart a reservation in
Wyoming......July 3, 1886
Laramie Glass Company inaugurate the first
window-glass factory west of
Illinois......April 6, 1887
University of
Wyoming at
Laramie chartered 1886; corner-stone laid Sept. 27, 1886; and opened......September, 1887
New capitol at
Cheyenne occupied by the legislature......1888
Constitutional convention assembles at
Cheyenne, Sept. 3-30; constitution submitted to the people, and ratified by a vote of 6,272 to 1,923......November, 1889
Wyoming admitted to the
Union by act of Congress approved......July 10, 1890
Francis E. Warren inaugurated first governor of the
State of Wyoming......Oct. 14, 1890
First State legislature convenes at
Cheyenne......Nov. 13, 1890
Legislature passes the Australian ballot law......1890
Forest reservation in
Wyoming adjacent to
Yellowstone Park set apart by proclamation of
President Harrison......March 30 and Sept. 10, 1891
Shoshone and
Arapahoe Indians cede to the
United States 1,000,000 acres of land at 55 cents per acre ......Oct. 16, 1891
Five hundred cowboys set out to exterminate the cattle thieves in
Wyoming and
Montana......April 10, 1892
United States troops called out to suppress the cowboy disturbance......April 13, 1892
All persons engaged in resisting the laws and processes of the
United States courts in
Wyoming commanded to desist, by proclamation of
President Harrison......July 30, 1892
Shoshone Indian reservation ceded to the
United States......1893
Wyoming was without representation in the United States Senate from 1893.
C. D. Clark, Republican, and
F. E. Warren, Democrat, elected......June 22, 1895
Legislature provides for a State militia and encouragement of beet-sugar industry......1897
C. D. Clark re-elected
United States Senator......Jan. 25, 1899
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