Modern military women, trained by one of the most sophisticated armed forces in the world, marching in 19th-century caps and ankle-length skirts with wooden rifles in white-gloved hands. That was the Wyoming Girl Guard, organized in the late 1980s for the 1990 statehood centennial and still active more than 30 years later. In this sidebar from Cowboy Soldiers: The History of the Wyoming National Guard, Volume 1, 1870-1945, Rosalind Routt Schliske remembers the contrasts, the parades, and the day she stood near the Esther Hobart Morris statue with a front-row view of history.

Dave Kathka devoted decades to Wyoming’s historical and cultural life as a college educator, State Historian, and the man who brought Wyoming History Day to thousands of students across the state. Historian Rick Ewig, who followed in his footsteps as History Day coordinator, remembers a tireless advocate for Wyoming history and the humanities.

Liz Byrd is a well-known figure in Wyoming history. Her husband Jim was a trailblazer too.

Saratoga’s Hobo Hot Springs have drawn visitors for centuries, first Native American tribes seeking the waters’ healing powers, then soldiers from Fort Steele, then hobos riding the rails during the Great Depression. Open and free to the public forever, the pools along the North Platte River are a living piece of Wyoming history.

Thyra Thomson served as Wyoming's Secretary of State for 24 years—longer than anyone in state history. Those who knew her remembered a warm, gracious woman. Those who tried to take advantage of her remembered something else entirely.

Wyoming’s last train robber was a man of contradictions—a thief who refused to steal from women, a fugitive who charmed his way into homesteaders’ homes, a prisoner who taught himself needlework. In 1960 oral history interviews housed at the University of Wyoming’s American Heritage Center, Bill Carlisle spoke candidly about the psychology behind his crimes, the unwritten codes of cowboy culture that shaped his conduct, and the long road from impulsive outlaw to respected Laramie motel owner.

As the U.S. marks its 250th anniversary, WyoHistory.org launches “Founding Figures,” a new project profiling the people whose vision and determination helped shape Wyoming from the first female governor in U.S. history to the farm kid who revolutionized basketball. New articles will be added throughout 2026.

In 1979, Wyoming sent three men to Washington just as Iran’s revolution was setting in motion a chain of events that would define American foreign policy for decades. Senator Alan Simpson, Senator Malcolm Wallop, and Congressman Dick Cheney were all present for the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, the Lebanon hostage crisis, and the Iran-Contra investigation—and the crisis they witnessed never really ended.