Business & Industry

In 1890 Confederate veteran Frank Nevin established a small, 160-acre homestead southeast of Rawlins. As the old open-range system was fast disappearing, he and his family grew vegetables and ran small herds of cattle and sheep. Archaeological excavations at the site have provided provide rich information about these changing times on the range.

Howard Zahniser (1906-1964), a Washington, D.C.–based leader of The Wilderness Society, was the chief author of and lobbyist for the 1964 Wilderness Act. Much of his inspiration, and one of his earliest preservation victories, came at Lake Solitude in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains.

Sam Gebo, a brilliant capitalist and con man, developed coal mines in Montana, Alberta and Wyoming in the early 1900s. But his methods were fraudulent; he and seven of his partners were charged with crimes. But a new system of leasing federal coal grew out of the controversy—a system still in place today.

The history of Japanese people in Wyoming is most often connected with the World War II internment camp at Heart Mountain. Yet Japanese railroad laborers were in Wyoming as early as 1892—and some may even have helped lay the tracks that delivered the internees to Heart Mountain two generations later.

Playing a large trout without losing your fly; keeping the line taut while using the latest technology in reels and rods—dedicated fishermen and women enjoy all these things. How did the craft of tackle-making begin and evolve in Wyoming?

No landscape is beyond the reach of history. The wilderness of the Absaroka Mountains, bordering the west side of Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin, is no different. Evidence of early mining activity still endures in isolated pockets, and searchers can still find cabin ruins, tailings and a few crumbing tunnels.

Contrary to legend, the sole purpose of the Pony Express was to secure a $1 million U.S. Mail subsidy by showing mail could be delivered on time between Missouri and California—even through winter. But in the contest between the Pony Express and Wyoming winter, winter won.

After World War I, people in America’s fast-growing, car-purchasing middle class could afford pleasure trips and began sending home picture postcards. The cards reveal a great deal about the attitudes, class and prejudices of their senders and vendors, and hint at what Wyoming people wanted the world to see.

Connecticut-born Edward Gillette came west 1878, eager for excitement. His expertise as a surveyor led eventually to his leading the party that located the Burlington Railroad route through northeast Wyoming. Though Gillette, Wyo., was named for him, he finally settled in Sheridan to a life of successful business and public service.