Also dubbed as the Equality State because of its civil rights past, Wyoming is the 44th state in the United States. It is quite a large state by size, with total land area measuring 97,814 square miles. However, it is the least populated in all of the states at this time. The state’s topography consists of mostly mountain ranges (the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains) on the west of the state and High Plains on the east. The state’s capital and biggest city is Cheyenne. You won’t forget that the majority of the famous Yellowstone National Park is primarily located in Wyoming.
More interesting facts about Wyoming await you here in this gallery!
Nellie Tayloe Ross (1876-1977) was an American politician. Upon her election as Wyoming’s 14th governor in 1925, she also made history as the first-ever female governor in any US state. Up to the present, she remains the only woman to have acted as governor in Wyoming. Ms. Ross also served as the director of the US Mint from 1933 to 1953. At the time of her death in 1977, she became the oldest former governor in the US at 101 years old.
During 1867, the first commercial mines started their operations in the south of Wyoming. These coal mines mostly yielded carbon. In fact, one of the areas there is called Carbon County, based on these coal deposits.
The Yellowstone Park is a national park primarily located in Wyoming, although parts of it reach into Idaho and Montana. The park is famous for its pine forests, amazing landscape, lakes, waterfalls, and geothermal wonders, including the eruption of the Old Faithful Geyser which is one of the most popular tourist attractions.
Yellowstone Park was declared as a national park during President Ulysses Grant’s administration, making it the first-ever national park in the world. It has also been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This logo consists of a silhouette of a cowboy riding on a bucking horse (bronco). In 1936, Wyoming made it a trademark for its license plates, but it has been used as the state’s popular insignia since 1918. This also gave way for Wyoming to be informally dubbed as the “Cowboy State.”
The Devil’s Tower is indeed a towering monolith: its highest peak reaches 5,114 feet (1,559 meters) above sea level. Located in Crook County, Wyoming, the Devils Tower is believed to be formed from volcanic activity. It is regarded as sacred for the Native Americans, who called the rock “Matȟó Thípila,” “Ptehé Ǧí,” and “Wox Niiinon.” It was named by President Theodore Roosevelt as the first US National Monument on September 24, 1906
As said in the Yellowstone Park section, the park has many geothermal wonders for visitors to enjoy. One that tourists should check out is the Grand Prismatic Spring, located in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone Park, Wyoming. It is the largest hot spring the United States and the third biggest in the world.
The hot spring is 160 meters deep, and has a diameter of 300 feet. The amazingly vivid colors are the result of the pigmented bacteria which produce a wide range of colors from red to blue to yellow. The water is crystal clear due to its high degree of purity, but the boiling temperature — at 160 °F (70 °C) — makes it impossible to swim in, though.
As was said before, the Yellowstone Park is primarily located in Wyoming. It’s because the majority of the famous national park is in Wyoming, in Park and Teton counties. However, it also extends to Gallatin and Park counties in Montana, and Fremont County in Idaho.
The name Wyoming was derived from the Native American word “mecheweamiing,” meaning “at the big plains.” This is due to the fact that the High Plains on the east of Wyoming are made of high-elevation prairies.
One of the remarkable natural features of the Red Desert in south-central Wyoming is the Great Divide Basin, an endorheic basin. An endorheic basin has closed drainage, so to speak, meaning it retains much of the water it gets (such as rainwater) and does not flow out to any bodies of water such as a river or an ocean. So basically, it’s like having your inflatable pool refilled with water after a rain.
Perhaps only in Wyoming you could see the wedding of the two rivers. So how does the Wind River becomes the Bighorn River mid-stream?
Well, as the Wind River flows about fifty miles from its headwaters in the Wind River Lake (Rocky Mountains), it flows enter the Wind River Indian Reservation. Then it continues to flow southeastward to Boysen State Park. After that, the river turns north through the Wind River Canyon where it flows out of the reservation at the point known as the “Wedding of the Waters.” This is where the Wind River officially changes its name and becomes the Bighorn River.
As implied in the gallery’s introduction, Wyoming is the least populated of all the 50 states for the time being. As of 2014, Wyoming is ranked 50th with 584,153 residents (California is the most populated state with 38,802,500).
Wyoming is also one of the least densely populated states in relation to its large land size. Wyoming is about thirteen times the size of New Jersey, which is the most densely populated state with over 8.8 million residents.
The pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is an animal with antelope-like qualities. Native to North America, the pronghorn is one of the fastest mammals in the Western Hemisphere, with speeds varying from 35 miles per hour for four miles to 42 mph for 1 mile. It can even outpace cheetahs.
The number of pronghorns proliferate in Wyoming; in fact, they outnumber people there. That’s why hunting these animals is allowed to control their population as well as for food. In fact, pronghorn hunting is a big business in Wyoming.
As coal is rich in Wyoming, it contributes an important part of the state’s economy. Since 1986, Wyoming has been the leading coal producer in the US. In 1994, about three million tons of coal were extracted from Wyoming’s mines every week. Since 1994 more than 7.8 billion tons of coal have been produced from the state.
JC Penney is one of the widely recognized brands in the United States. It was founded by James Cash Penney in 1902 in the city of Kemmerer, Wyoming by opening his first store. Now it has over a thousand stores nationwide. Although JC Penney has its present headquarters in Plano, Texas, the first and original store in Kemmerer still exists.
The park was established by American geologist Ferndinand V. Hayden in 1872, making it the first-ever national park not only in the United States but also in the world. It is also the biggest national park in the United States. It is estimated that 2.5 million people visit the park each year.