Wyoming History

This week marks the 177th anniversary of the first Catholic Mass ever conducted in the Cowboy State. July 5, 1840, Father Pierre De Smet presided over the mass during the annual Green River Rendezvous at Horse Creek in Sublette County, near the present-day town of Pinedale...

80 years ago this week, on June 28, 1937, Fritz Wiessner became the first person to "free climb" Devils Tower. Although the German-born mountain climber was the first to scale the monument using modern techniques, many men had completed the ascent with the aid of a wooden ladder built decades earlier by two local ranchers...

The 2017 World Series of Poker is underway in Las Vegas. To celebrate, here's a look back at the luckiest gambler in Wyoming history. Of all the card games ever played in the Cowboy State, and there have been many, the stakes were never higher than a legendary poker game at a Douglas saloon in 1906...

99 years ago today, one of the biggest horse races in Wyoming history began. Dubbed "The Great Horse Race of 1908", the 500-mile run from Evanston, Wyoming, to Denver was sponsored by The Denver Post. Although there were 25 official entries, the betting favorites were Cody, Wyoming, native Charles Workman and his horse Teddy and Greeley, Colorado, native Dode Wykert and his horse, Sam...

According the Wyoming State Library, over 4,200 patents have been issued to inventors here in the Cowboy State. Here's a look back at some of the greatest inventions in Wyoming history. The first patent in the Territory of Wyoming was issued in 1870 to George Choate, who developed an improvement to shovel handles...

Here's a little known fact, Wyoming was part of the very first flight to include a "stewardess" (as they were referred to in those days). In 1930, the new commercial airline industry wanted to insure their customers that flying was safe...

39 years ago, one of the worst floods in Wyoming history began. It started with heavy rain on the morning of May 15, 1978, which later turned to snow. As the storm spread, property damage was reported in 12 counties. Over 100 homes were destroyed, dozens of bridges and roads were flooded, and power was knocked out across the state...

Television and movie fans were shocked to hear about the passing of actor Powers Boothe this weekend. Booth was well-known for several iconic roles, including one fictional character with a "real-life" Wyoming connection. For three seasons, from 2004 through 2006, Boothe portrayed Cy Tolliver, the owner of the Bella Union Saloon in the HBO series Deadwood...

John Osborne was the third Governor of Wyoming, the state's largest sheep farmer, a banker, doctor, chemist, United States Congressman and the United States Assistant Secretary of State. Osborne's biggest claim to fame, however, was his morbid curiosity with dead bodies; particularly the corpse of former cattle rustler "Big Nose" George Parrott...

Cinco De Mayo marks the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, where Mexico manhandled a much larger French army. Although present-day Wyoming was already a United States Territory in 1862, nearly 10 percent of land in the Cowboy State was once a part of Mexico...

Just in time for the 143rd "run for the roses" this weekend, here's a Kentucky Derby tribute to the greatest horses in Wyoming history. 1. Steamboat – Born in 1896 near Chugwater, Wyoming, Steamboat was widely considered among the best bucking broncos in rodeo history...

Brown's Saloon was established in 1822 to serve thirsty fur trappers at the Brown's Hole trading fort along the Green River