Featured Topics

Indigenous People in Wyoming and the West

Women’s Suffrage and Women’s Rights

The New Deal and Wyoming Agriculture, Part 3: Returning homesteads to ranchland

The New Deal split Wyoming's federal policy in two. In the west, the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 brought public range under federal regulation, creating grazing districts and permits that permanently reshaped grazing rights. In the east, federal programs deemed homesteaded Great Plains land unfit for farming and worked to resettle its residents.

Read More
The New Deal and Wyoming Agriculture, Part 2: Killing Cattle to Raise the Price

When the New Deal arrived in Wyoming in the 1930s, federal agents fanned out across the state buying and slaughtering cattle and reducing crops to combat the Depression-era crisis of overproduction. This article examines how the Agricultural Adjustment Administration’s production controls played out on Wyoming’s ranches and farms.

Read More
The New Deal and Wyoming Agriculture, Part 1: Drought, Depression and Despair

When the stock market crashed in 1929, Wyoming’s farms and ranches were already struggling. Collapsing markets, failing banks, and drought pushed the state’s agriculture to the breaking point. Roosevelt’s New Deal offered relief, but also brought federal power into Wyoming’s rangeland, permanently reshaping ranchers’ relationship to the land.

Read More
James W. Byrd: Wyoming’s Pioneering Police Chief

In January 1966, James W. “Jim” Byrd became the first Black police chief in Cheyenne—and in Wyoming. Over a 25-year career he helped modernize the Cheyenne Police Department and went on to serve as a Wyoming highway safety director and U.S. Marshal. Read more about this quiet trailblazer in Wyoming public life.

Read More
The Life of Alan K. Simpson

On a freezing New Year’s Eve in 1978, a handful of friends gathered at Christ Episcopal Church in Cody, Wyoming, to watch Alan Simpson sworn into the U.S. Senate by candlelight. Only about twenty people attended the midnight service, but the moment vaulted Simpson ahead in seniority and launched a career that would make him one of the most recognizable—and quotable—political figures in Wyoming history.1

Read More
The New Deal: Returning homesteads to ranchland
The New Deal: Killing Cattle to Raise the Price
The New Deal and Wyoming Agriculture, Part 1
James W. Byrd: Wyoming’s Pioneering Police Chief
The Life of Alan K. Simpson

The Latest from Our Blog

“Not Again, Not This Time”: Discrimination in Cheyenne’s Hispanic Railroad Community

For sixty years, Carol Pascal’s family spoke of the 1930s only in whispers. When she finally asked why, she uncovered a story of pressure, fear, and quiet defiance that shaped three generations of Hispanic life in Cheyenne.

Keep Reading
group shot of many men and women in overalls and work clothing

Education

Explore WyoHistory.org’s education packages, designed for classroom use.

View the Education Page
Map of locations

Interactive Map

Explore Wyoming’s history using our interactive map of articles. 

View the map

Historical Topics

Contributors

Subscribe to the WyoHistory.org Newsletter

The WyoHistory.org monthly newsletter includes updates of new articles on the website, info on history-related events, news about our contributors, etc. Add your name to the list to stay informed about all things history in Wyoming.

Learn More and Sign Up

Like Us on Facebook

Join the discussion about Wyoming history and receive updates when new articles are posted to the website.

Like Us Now

Support WyoHistory.org

We need your support to update the website with new articles and keep our archive of Wyoming history growing. To learn more about how to donate to WyoHistory.org, please reach out to editor@wyohistory.org.