First Electricity in Early Wyoming, 1882
By Phil Roberts About the same time that inventor Thomas Edison was constructing his Pearl Street station and developing equipment for it, while he was …
Buffalo Bones
Christmas Celebrations in Pioneer Wyoming
By Phil Roberts, December 1978 (with revisions, November 2018) Christmas was celebrated in the early days in Wyoming, in the 19th century, much like it …
Laramie’s Eliza Stewart: The First Woman Juror in America
By Phil Roberts Laramie women made history in March of 1870 when five of them became the first women in the world to serve on …
Transcontinental Telegraph Came Across Wyoming in 1861
Invented by Samuel F. B. Morse in the 1830s, the telegraph was already maturing as a communication tool when it became a key component to …
Billy the Kid, Wyoming: Tourist Site near Rock River
Billy the Kid, Wyo., just north of Rock River, in the 1950s was a motel, truck stop, café, and souvenir shop with a small petting …
Hooray for Laramie?: Wyoming’s Brush with Hollywood Fame
By Phil Roberts In the 1950s, a celebrated veteran in the entertainment business wrote about his memories of Wyoming in his autobiography. He …
The Brief Wyoming Visit by a Reigning Emperor, 1876
By Phil Roberts In these times of ever more curiosity with the antics of the British royals (and former royals), writers have remarked on the …
Diamonds in the Rough: The Great Hoax in Wyoming Territory
By Phil Roberts One day in 1871 two miners, Philip Arnold and John Slack, walked into a bank in San Francisco and asked that their …
Wyoming’s First Arbor Day, 1888
By Phil Roberts Wyoming law establishes the last Monday in April as Arbor Day. On that day, according to the statute, a “tree …
The “Cheyenne 200”: The 1909 Auto Race Rival to Indianapolis
By Phil Roberts During the same week in August 1909, two cities held what each billed as their first annual automobile race. One race–moved to …
Sleeping with the Nuclear Genie
Health Officials Comment on Wyoming-Made Uranium Bags and Pillows, 1955 By Phil Roberts In the middle 1950s, with the advent of radioactivity and the …
Hamlet and the Chicken Thieves
In the 19th century and the first couple of decades in the 20th, many Wyoming towns hosted visits from world-renowned actors. Transcontinental air traffic flies …
Two Wyomingites Who Tried to Fly, 1880s
By Phil Roberts It was a winter day in Kitty Hawk, North Caroline, in 1903 when Wilbur and Orville Wright’s flying machine launched the air …
Raining Rattlers
Raining Rattlers By Phil Roberts Experts say that of the 115 various species of snakes in the United States, just 19 of them are venomous. …
Wyoming Name Changes
Wyoming Almanac contains numerous entries in which names of people and places are listed. Here are several entries for name changes and nicknames of a …
Wyoming’s First Arbor Day, 1888
“Drizzling Rain Kept All Indoors”: Wyoming’s First Arbor Day, 1888 By Phil Roberts Wyoming law establishes the last Monday in April as Arbor …
When Wyoming Almost Repealed Women Suffrage
The first Territorial Legislature in 1869 passed the suffrage bill, giving women the right to vote for the first time anywhere in America. But it …
Women Served on Juries in Wyoming
Wyoming was the first place where women served on juries. Laramie was the site for the first women on a jury (1871), but women also were …
Trader Seth Ward’s Blizzard of a Lifetime
By Phil Roberts Wyomingites generally consider two winters during the state’s history as “worst of the century.” For many 19thcentury residents, the epic …
The Other Roughriders: Col. Torrey and Wyoming’s Volunteers
By Phil Roberts The Rough Riders are usually associated with Theodore Roosevelt, but his were not the only “rough riders” organized to …
Unusual Wyoming Street Names
By Phil Roberts Wyoming towns have some pretty strange street names. Take Obie Sue, CY, Hobbit Hole and Hog Eye, for …
Somewhere West of Laramie: An Advertising Legend
By Phil Roberts “Somewhere west of Laramie there’s a broncho-busting, steer-roping girl who knows what I’m talking about.” So began a …
Soldier’s Widow Owned Townsite of Buffalo
By Phil Roberts The townsite of Buffalo was once almost entirely owned by a widow. Her late husband had the foresight to file …
Sleeping with the Nuclear Genie: Health Officials Comment on Wyoming-Made Uranium Bags and Pillows, 1955
By Phil Roberts In the middle 1950s, with the advent of radioactivity and the government’s efforts to apply atomic power to peaceful purposes, …
Riding the Cow-Catcher
Laramie hosted many travelers crossing the country on the newly completed transcontinental railroad. Few had a more exciting ride than those in this account from …
“Powder River, Let ‘er Buck”: Term “Invented” by a Range Cowboy in Wyoming
By Phil Roberts Former UW football coach Joe Glenn (2003-08) often repeated the familiar mantra “Powder River, Let ‘er Buck,” as an expression …
Pershing’s Wyoming Connection
By Phil Roberts It was a cold, miserable day in January 1905, in Washington, D.C. , and a rising young army officer was marrying the …
Overcoming “Superstitious Dread”: Public Schools in Territorial Wyoming
By Phil Roberts Public school education dates to the earliest days of Wyoming Territory, even before the first territorial legislature authorized public funding for schools. …
Wyoming’s “Other” Governor Ross: The Story of William Ross, Husband of Nellie
By Phil Roberts Although few residents realize it, November 29 is a state holiday in Wyoming. Known as Nellie Tayloe Ross Day,” the …
No Turkeys at the Post: Thanksgiving in Pioneer Wyoming
By Phil Roberts The Thanksgivings of the 19th century in Wyoming weren’t always celebrated with turkey and the trimmings. While Cheyenne printers were …
“Mrs. Barriers” and the Crusade to Make Wyoming Public Buildings Accessible
By Phil Roberts The Americans with Disabilities Act was far in the future when a group of Lusk residents first met to …
Mary Bellamy Was First Woman Elected to Wyoming State Legislature
Mary Godat Bellamy (b. 1861, d. 1954) was the first woman elected to the Wyoming State Legislature. A resident of Laramie, she was one of …
Lupton’s Luckless Location: The History of Fort Platte
Lancaster P. Lupton established a post a mile from Fort Laramie in 1841 in an unsuccessful attempt to capture the lucrative fur trade in the …
Lovejoy’s Toy: Wyoming’s First Car
By Phil Roberts, Department of History, University of Wyoming The automobile age arrived in Wyoming almost unnoticed. While the Spanish American War dominated …
Numbers on Bumpers: Wyoming’s First License Plates
By Phil Roberts Every year questions are asked about the bucking horse insignia on Wyoming’s license plates. Claims from several sources seem to confuse the …
Hooray for Laramie?: Wyoming’s Brush with Hollywood Fame
By Phil Roberts In the 1950s, a celebrated veteran in the entertainment business wrote about his memories of Wyoming in his autobiography. He …
Gannett Peak: The Map-maker’s Mountain and Wyoming’s Highest Point
By Phil Roberts John C. Fremont on his expedition west in 1842 climbed, along with his African American servant Janise, what Fremont called “the …
From a Bank in the Big Horn Basin: The Beginnings of Worland
By Phil Roberts The town was established because of agriculture. It was named, not for the farmer, investor, engineer or railroad official but for …
First Woman to Vote in America Lived in Laramie
Louisa Swain was the first woman to vote in a general election in the United States. She voted on Sept. 6, 1870, in Laramie. Born …
The First Woman Juror in America: Laramie’s Eliza Stewart
The First Woman Juror in America: Laramie’s Eliza Stewart By Phil Roberts Laramie women made history in March of 1870 when five of …
First Commercial Computer in Wyoming Operated in the Casper Office of Pan American Petroleum, 1960
First Commercial Computer in Wyoming Operated in the Casper Office of Pan American Petroleum, 1960 Shown below is sample computer card that was used to …
“Except for the Immediate Grasshopper”: Owen Wister’s Medicine Bow
By Phil Roberts, published April 3, 1980 “It is a fearful place. A town consisting of a station and a dozen wooden horrors of various …
Edison, the Light Bulb and the Eclipse
By Phil Roberts Thomas Edison was 31 years old and already a famous inventor when he visited Wyoming in 1878. He had patented the phonograph …
Duncan Hines’ Best Meal
By Phil Roberts (1986) *A version of this article first appeared as “Duncan Hines’ Best Meal,” True West, March 1987, pp. 36-40. Printed online for first …
Dom Pedro Crossed Wyoming: The Brief Wyoming Visit by a Reigning Emperor, 1876
By Phil Roberts In these times of another forthcoming British royal wedding, writers have remarked on the unusual interest these events seem to hold for …
Diamonds in the Rough: The Great Hoax in Wyoming Territory
By Phil Roberts One day in 1871 two miners, Philip Arnold and John Slack, walked into a bank in San Francisco and asked that their …
The Builder of the “World’s Oldest Cabin”
The Builder of the “World’s Oldest Cabin” By Phil Roberts It is billed as “the world’s oldest cabin.” The structure, made of fossilized …