Month: March 2021

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 …

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 …

By Phil Roberts       Wyomingites generally consider two winters during the state’s history as “worst of the century.”  For many 19thcentury residents, the epic …

By Phil Roberts        The Rough Riders are usually associated with Theodore Roosevelt, but his were not the only “rough riders” organized to …

By Phil Roberts             Wyoming towns have some pretty strange street names.  Take Obie Sue, CY, Hobbit Hole and Hog Eye, for …

    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 …

By Phil Roberts      The townsite of Buffalo was once almost entirely owned by a widow. Her late husband had the foresight to file …

            By Phil Roberts    In the middle 1950s, with the advent of radioactivity and the government’s efforts to apply atomic power to peaceful purposes, …

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 …

By Phil Roberts      Former UW football coach Joe Glenn (2003-08) often repeated the familiar mantra “Powder River, Let ‘er Buck,” as an expression …

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 …

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.  …

By Phil Roberts       Although few residents realize it, November 29 is a state holiday in Wyoming. Known as Nellie Tayloe Ross Day,” the …

By Phil Roberts       The Thanksgivings of the 19th century in Wyoming weren’t always celebrated with turkey and the trimmings. While Cheyenne printers were …

By Phil Roberts       The Americans with Disabilities Act was far in the future when a group of Lusk residents first met to …

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 …

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 …

By Phil Roberts, Department of History, University of Wyoming      The automobile age arrived in Wyoming almost unnoticed. While the Spanish American War dominated …

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 …

By Phil Roberts       In the 1950s, a celebrated veteran in the entertainment business wrote about his memories of Wyoming in his autobiography. He …

By Phil Roberts     John C. Fremont on his expedition west in 1842 climbed, along with his African American servant Janise, what Fremont called “the …

By Phil Roberts     The town was established because of agriculture. It was named, not for the farmer, investor, engineer or railroad official but for …

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 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 Shown below is sample computer card that was used to …

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 …

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 …

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 …

 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 …

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” By Phil Roberts      It is billed as “the world’s oldest cabin.” The structure, made of fossilized …

By Phil Roberts, University of Wyoming Department of History       Arbuckle coffee was the mainstay for every cowboy on the range in the late …

By Phil Roberts, University of Wyoming Department of History       Arbuckle coffee was the mainstay for every cowboy on the range in the late …

            Even before Woodrow Wilson’s vice president, Thomas Marshall, made his famous remark about the need for good five-cent cigars in the smoke shop of …

Christmas was celebrated in the early days in Wyoming, in the 19th century, much like it is today with family dinners, parties, church services and …

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 …

The strong box was reinforced steel and, according to its builders it could withstand any attempt to break it open for at least 24 hours. …

By Phil Roberts Agnes Thatcher Lake was world renowned in the second half of the 19th century as a tightrope walker, lion tamer and equestrian. Western …

Broadway’s ‘Mr. Abbott’ Delivered Beer in Wyoming By Phil Roberts     When Broadway’s “Mr. Abbott” died in February, 1995, at the age of 107, few …

A Tramp, A Fossil Dealer and the Vampires: The 1880 Wyoming Census By Phil Roberts      In the 19th century, Wyoming was not the …