The Casper Army Air Base was built quickly in 1942 to train bomber crews for World War II combat. The facility trained more than 16,000 men before the end of the war. Its population grew to a third of the size of Casper’s, bringing prosperity and a lively social life to the town. The base closed in 1945, when the war ended.

Created in 1868 before Wyoming was even a territory, Albany County and its vast plains are still good for livestock grazing. Thanks to the Union Pacific Railroad and early gold and copper mining, however, the county was industrial in its earliest times. Laramie, the county seat, was chosen as the site of the University of Wyoming in 1886, and the university stabilizes the town’s economic and cultural life.

German-American landscape artist Albert Bierstadt captured a transformative time in American history. His travels through Wyoming and the West gave Bierstadt a one-of-a-kind perspective for painting his best-known works in the 1850s and 1860s, and his grandiose landscapes and their idealized, pristine panoramas have sparked the imagination of generations.

Alcova Dam, a Bureau of Reclamation project, was completed in 1937. The reservoir opened in 1938 and a power plant was completed in 1955. The $20 million dam project didn’t achieve the high expectations of immense wealth that were forecast at the time of its inception, but continues to provide irrigation water for farmers and ranchers and generates hydropower for the area. Alcova Reservoir offers fishing, boating, camping and swimming opportunities for visitors.

Alonzo Clark was elected to the office Secretary of State in November of 1926 and served two terms. He took office as acting Governor to complete the first half of the late Governor Emerson's term.

In 1871, Amalia Post of Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, became one of the first women to serve on a jury in the United States. Soon, she began advocating for women’s rights on a national level. She was an independent businesswoman from the time her first husband abandoned her in Denver in the early 1860s, through her marriage to her second husband, Cheyenne banker and politician Morton Post and up to the time of her death in 1897.

The Ames Monument, a 60-foot-high granite pyramid, was completed in 1882 at the highest point on the Union Pacific Railroad, to honor railroad financiers Oakes and Oliver Ames. The tracks have since been moved, but the monument is still easily visible and accessible from Interstate 80 between Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyo.

Anchor Dam was built in the 1950s on upper Owl Creek in Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin. The bedrock under the reservoir site is porous, and the reservoir has never held much water. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation more than doubled its initial costs with subsequent mitigation efforts, which proved unsuccessful. The dam stands today high above a small pool of water.

Elected Secretary of State in 1946, Arthur Crane became acting Governor in 1949 at the age of 72. After his term as Governor he wrote many articles on education and was active in many education organizations.

Bessemer, Wyo., on the North Platte River west of Casper, was founded in 1888 but disappeared after failing to win the status of county seat of the brand-new Natrona County in 1890.