Category Archives: Western history
Estelle Reel Day
In recognition of Estelle Reel, the first woman elected and to hold the office of state superintendent of public instruction in Wyoming and the second woman elected and to hold a statewide office in the United States, January 7 of … Continue reading
The Wyoming Art of Carrie Arnold
Carrie Arnold (1944-1998) was a Denver business woman with an active interest in Western history, which she expressed in drawings. She became a pen and ink illustrator for a number of Western books. She was commissioned by her friend Bill … Continue reading
Lovell’s Latin American Colony
In 1916, the sugar beet industry brought the first serious wave of Mexican-speaking migrants to Lovell: betabeleros, the beet workers, to hoe the fields and help with the harvest. Yet most were not Mexican nationals, but rather Spanish-speaking people from … Continue reading
Andrew Bugas’ Account of the Rock Springs Massacre of 1885
Andrew Bugas was not quite 20 years old in 1885 when he arrived in Rock Springs to work in the Union Pacific’s coal mines. Born in Austria, he came to the United States in 1880 to join his father in … Continue reading
Summer Exhibit Series: Highways in Laramie
The railroad is what most of Laramie’s early history is focused on as it allowed new peoples and industries to grow the burgeoning city. Even so, a few decades after the railroad first came to Laramie, a new form of … Continue reading
Who Climbed the Grand Teton First?
One hundred and twenty years ago, on August 11, 1898, William O. Owen (federal surveyor and outdoorsman), Reverend Franklin Spencer Spalding, and Jackson Hole ranchers Frank L. Petersen and John S. “Jack” Shive made an ascent of the Grand Teton by way … Continue reading
