Ordinances and town-council meeting minutes do not reveal much about Wiley’s fight against the KKK. They do show her extensive support of the Fire Department and better safety regulations. Her fight to uphold the prohibition laws also makes only a brief appearance in the minutes, with her appointment of a special police officer to monitor public dances.

On Monday, May 1 in Laramie we were fortunate to have a chance to judge at Wyoming History Day. More than a hundred students from a dozen or so Wyoming schools participated; 42 of them will take their projects to compete at National History Day at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md., just north of Washington, D.C., in June.

Among all the celebrations, ceremonies, speeches, anxieties and hopes around the time Wyoming was becoming a state, Cheyenne newspapers reported a unique series of events, now largely forgotten, that hint at how people felt about gender roles in a fast-changing time.

Two major threads run through this history of Hot Springs State Park, which is also the story of Thermopolis, Wyo. One is the desire of medical professionals and people whose ailments were cured or ameliorated by the waters to spread the news. The other is the sharp contrast between Native and White people’s ways.

Last week's snowstorm, which dumped more than 37 inches of snow on Casper and large amounts on much of Wyoming, calls to mind the Blizzard of 1949. Travel is dangerous or impossible in heavy snowfall, especially when a storm includes low temperatures and strong winds.

Arcadia Publishing issues numerous books about local history in the United States, most by local historians. Their titles include two books about different kinds of ranching in Wyoming: dude ranching and sheep and cattle ranching.

Recent bank failures—and moves by the U.S. government to protect the banks’ depositors—have sent shock waves through banking stocks and jitters through the markets at large. This week, therefore, seems to us like a good moment to revisit the banking events of the 1920s.

The author, a self-described “progressive Christian” and “citizen historian” (non-professional) has included eleven stories in this book of gutsy people and groups in Wyoming who have stood by their unpopular convictions. Often, they suffered for this.

During a stormy session, the Wyoming Legislature last month found itself debating the implications of one of the most telling events in our state’s history: the life and tragic death of Lester Hunt.

Wyoming: The Paradox of Plenty: The Allure and Risk of a Mineral Economy, by David Freudenthal. WordsWorth Publishing, Cody, Wyo., 2022, 237 pages. $20.00 paperback.

The author’s blunt, tell-it-like-it-is style permeates this engaging history of Wyoming’s mineral economy and its associated politics. Drawing on his experience as Wyoming’s governor from 2003-2011 plus substantial personal research, Freudenthal paints a compelling picture of our long dependence on the extractive industries.