During the first 85 years of statehood, Wyoming was authorized only one federal judgeship as one judicial district. Only three men occupied that position during …
Cheyenne was the birthplace of at least one Navy admiral—Francis X. McInerney, who was born in Cheyenne in 1899. While he was stationed worldwide in …
By Phil Roberts It is almost unnoticeable in this photo of Barol Lodge at the AMK ranch (inside the borders of Grand Teton National Park), …
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 …
By Phil Roberts, 1/15/22 ….If there is a moral to the story, it would be not to tell a box office star how to shoot …
Betting (and opposition to it) has a long tradition in Wyoming. Take the lottery once conducted over ice on Fremont Lake. In a rather lengthy …
Phil Roberts—1/3/22 How do you free a busload of new faculty from being stuck most of the day in the mud behind Como Bluff? Fortunately, …
For Christmas 1984, Capitol Times published a series of brief accounts from readers responding to the question of what was their most memorable Christmas? Liz …
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 …
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 …
This editorial was published in the Seattle Press-Times, May 10, 1895, p. 2, c. 2: “During the last ten years a remarkable change has taken …
By Phil Roberts, Reprinted from Buffalo Bones column, October 20, 1979 The first printed newspaper in Wyoming hit the streets on June 12, 1863. Unlike …
By Phil Roberts, Nov. 19, 2021 Hired gunman Tom Horn was hanged on the “Julian gallows” inside the Laramie County Jail 118 years ago tomorrow. …
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 …
A few months ago, I wrote about the merits of silver dollars, widely used in most of Wyoming in the 1950s. I neglected to mention …
At the beginning of 1933, Laramie officially was near bankruptcy. (FDR’s New Deal wouldn’t be taking office until March). In order to keep paying the …
By Phil Roberts, Oct. 2021 Wyoming politicians, publishers, and church leaders have led opposition to gambling throughout the state’s history. Some of these attempts came …
A common refrain one finds in 19th century Wyoming newspapers is the call for “law and order,” including government control over guns. Editorials warned that …
In the early 20th century, the State of Wyoming set up a “Board of Immigration to promote immigration to Wyoming,” both from the rest of …
On Sept. 29, 1977, David L. Roberts started the Medicine Bow Post, just as the town of Medicine Bow was about to boom (with the …
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 …
By Phil Roberts In this installment, I’m writing about some memories of Cairo. I first came to Cairo to help Peggy get settled in at …
Wyoming had a small, but much-used fleet of aircraft by the beginning of 1932. Airplane census in Wyoming in 1932 showed there were 67 total …
By Phil Roberts Wyoming voters went to the polls in November 2008 and voted for all three members of the state’s congressional delegation—both U. S. …
By Phil Roberts The new Wyoming quarter, officially unveiled in August 2007, shows Wyoming’s license-plate bucking horse and next to it are three words: “The …
By Phil Roberts Many years ago, I gave a talk to the Laramie Lyceum about the unusual number of connections between Wyoming and Australia. I …
By Phil Roberts “Go out in the back steps of the University or any other convenient place about town and take a look at the …
By Phil Roberts Traveling across Wyoming was perilous in the covered wagon days of the Oregon-California trail. Yet, even when rail travel made it faster …
By Phil Roberts As nice as it sounded, walking and hearing silver dollars clanking in your Levi’s pocket used to have a few down sides. I’m …
By Phil Roberts I’m not a specialist on Scandinavian history and biography, but one late spring day, after several heavy downpours during the week, I …
By Phil Roberts A 42-year odyssey with a white 1979 Chrysler LeBaron came to an end this week when we sold it to a salvage …
A Reminiscence by Phil Roberts Pumping gas at a filling station was a pretty good job for high school students in those long-ago days before …
By Phil Roberts Olympic records are falling every day… I’m reminded, more than 50 years after becoming “State Champion,” of the time I finally decided …
By Phil Roberts The Americans with Disabilities Act was far in the future when a group of Lusk residents first met to …
By Phil Roberts In the 1950s, a celebrated veteran in the entertainment business wrote about his memories of Wyoming in his autobiography. He …
From Phil, David, Steven Roberts, Wyoming Almanac, 7th ed. (Cheyenne, 2013), p.. 225. 1. Missionary Marcus Whitman led patriotic prayer service at South Pass en …
By Phil Roberts An important location in Laramie figures in this story…. In the days before the GI Bill, Congress did provide material thanks …
by Phil Roberts Posted 22 June 2021, but 1st posted 15 February 2015 (The following is an abstract of remarks made to the Laramie County …
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 …
June 2008 Guided by Phil Roberts, author of this brief narrative Day 1: Laramie to Sundance As we leave Laramie, we get a quick …
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 …
(Vietnam War & Korean War) Wyoming soldiers, sailors, Marines, have died in wars since territorial days in the 19th century. Lists of names of those …
This week is the anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition in Wyoming. The full story may be found here. https://wyomingalmanac.com/?page_id=360 Chapter 16 On May 25, …
By Phil Roberts Wyoming law establishes the last Monday in April as Arbor Day. On that day, according to the statute, a “tree …
By Phil Roberts, 2 May 2021 We’ve moved the website, but it is directly reachable through the words “Wyoming Almanac” and no longer from “Everything …
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 …
